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1 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 1 



I 



THE STUDY OF 
A NOVEL 



BY 
SELDEN L. WHITCOMB, A.M. (Columbia) 

Associate Professor of English Literature 
in the University of Kansas 



BOSTON, U.S.A. 

D. C HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

1905 









Jr"tbe "us* 

I CONOR ES 

NOV 9 
^ Otgyngfit E 

t 3d 8 *~L 



Copyright, 1905, 
By D. C. Heath & Co. 



TO 
BRANDER MATTHEWS 

As Critic and Teacher 
of the Novel 

IN GRATITUDE AND RESPECT 



PREFACE 

This volume is the result of practical experience in 
teaching the novel, and its aim is primarily pedagogical. 
It is only within the last few decades that the novel has 
been given much separate attention in college courses, and 
it cannot be hoped that any detailed method of study, at so 
early a date, can be more than an experiment and a tempo- 
rary contribution. But it has been nearly a half-century 
since Senior conceived a " treatise on Fiction, illustrated 
by examples," and some ten years since Professor Newcomer 
wrote (in a Practical Course in English Composition) that 
fiction would " require a special treatise even for its tech- 
nical side." Such fulfilment as has been made of these 
prophecies has been mainly in the field of the short story. 
The present writer has ventured into the field of the novel, 
with a sense that the time had come for tillage, even though 
the crop might be partly of weeds. 

The references in the text and in the bibliography will 
indicate indebtedness to many works. Crawshaw, Henne- 
quin, Moulton, and Riemann, in particular, have had a large 
influence on the general method or the specific analyses of 
this volume. Professor Perry's valuable study appeared 
after the plan for this study was matured, and has been 
read for literary enjoyment rather than for critical con- 
tribution. 



vi PREFACE 

For personal encouragement and assistance, the writer 
is grateful to more friends than can be named here. The 
completion of the work is due, in no small measure, to 
the sympathetic attitude of colleagues and pupils at Iowa 
College; and especially to the cooperative spirit of Pro- 
fessor Charles Noble, Dr. John S. Nollen, Dr. Martha 
Foote Crow, and Mr. DeWitt C. Sprague. Dr. Nollen 
has given much practical assistance in matters relating to 
French and German data. His generous service, in many 
ways, from the conception of the work until the final 
proof-reading, is acknowledged with pleasure. 

Lawrence, Kansas, 
September 30, 1905. 



INTRODUCTION 

To the Teacher 

It has required a long time for prose fiction to attain a 
dignified and independent position in the world of criticism. 
This has been due in part, no doubt, to the frailties of fiction, 
in part to the ungenerous conservatism of the critics. It 
is no longer deemed necessary to apologize for fiction itself, 
but a detailed study of its form is still quite generally pro- 
posed in an apologetic tone. It is frequently said that the 
novel is written to be read and enjoyed, not to be dissected. 
It might be replied that "dissection " is, in some cases, to 
some minds, a source of great enjoyment; that there is no 
necessary antagonism between agreeable reading and ana- 
lytical study, and that if only the primary human values of 
things were examined, several of the sciences would dis- 
appear. Flowers are pleasant to see and smell, and may 
be associated in one's memory with the bridal day or the 
new-made grave ; yet the microscopic study of botany is 
not usually opposed on sentimental grounds. The same 
person may at one time enter the cathedral for personal 
worship, at another, for professional examination of its 
structure, without any sense of conflict between the two 
interests. There may be persons who are unable to com- 
bine the aesthetic enjoyment of literature with systematic 
study of its nature, but it may be doubted whether they are 
the best examples of genuine and normal love of literature. 
Does not a somewhat systematic approach to fiction seem 
worth while so long as conflicting opinions like the follow- 



viii INTRODUCTION 

ing are not only possible but representative, in the columns 
of reputable journals? — "This novel has that charm of 
blended romance and realism, that captivating verisimili- 
tude, and that nameless power to haunt one with its shame- 
tinged sorrow and happiness which testify unmistakably of 
genius.' ' — " The rankest rot, ethically and artistically, ever 
published.'* 

Teachers of literature are accustomed to the complaint 
that their subject is vague. The recent tendency towards 
detailed analysis of literature is, from one point of view, an 
effort to discover how far this vagueness is due to methods 
of study, rather than to the nature of the subject. A little 
examination of the novel shows that it has, in spite of its 
amorphous quality, certain fixed values of material and of 
form, which may repay a systematic examination, and are 
independent of the personal impressions of the reader. 
The separate consideration of characters, plot, and settings, 
and the distinction between characters and characterization, 
are now fairly well established. Cooperative effort might 
result in greater uniformity of view, without violence to 
the nature of the novel, or danger to the liberty of the 
individual teacher. In this volume the aim has been to 
" keep the eye upon the object." In the matter of sequence 
and proportion in analysis, there is room for a wide differ- 
ence of opinion, and exact uniformity is not to be desired. 
The order of examination in these pages has been carefully 
considered, but it may prove satisfactory to few, and may 
be variously altered without destroying the general plan. 
Examples of other methods of analysis for the novel — inde- 
pendent, yet not without some tendency towards agreement 
— will be found on pages 265-268. 

If there is a science of the novel, this work does not 
attempt to embody it. It is interesting, however, to com- 



INTRODUCTION ix 

pare the problems of systematic literary study with similar 
problems in other fields. In Walker's Political Economy 
(Briefer Course, page 18), several sections are devoted to 
"the obstacles which Political Economy encounters." 
Some of these obstacles, such as the fact that most persons 
" feel themselves competent, irrespective of study ... to 
form opinions " on all phases of the subject, and the dif- 
ficulty of finding a clear, precise terminology, are very 
familiar to the teacher of literature. 

The question of the right relations of extensive and 
intensive study is often harassing. A fairly complete 
analysis of some single novel seems desirable ; but there is 
no work which represents adequately all the values of the 
type, and such a study, pursued in a spirit of real interest 
in details, would require almost an entire course. On the 
other hand, some of the richest cultural values of the novel 
are to be gained only by a liberal reading which brings 
before one a wide area of historical and social interests. 
The best general method is perhaps a combination of the 
two kinds of study in a single course. In an historical 
course, there are some novels which ought to be examined 
without complete reading, others which may be read 
entire, but scarcely repay detailed study. The present vol- 
ume is intended mainly as a guide to the consecutive and 
extended study of the individual novel, though the analysis 
could be distributed among several works, in accordance 
with their specific values. The experience of the writer 
has been that it is best, for mature students, to attain as 
great a general familiarity with a work as possible before 
a systematic study is attempted. This practise may help 
to dispel the conception that one who has simply read a 
work of literature has " had it." 

The study of the novel offers an opportunity for a 



X INTRODUCTION 

review of the formal rhetorical study of exposition, narra- 
tion, and description. It may give the mind elasticity and 
a sense of freedom in considering the relations of these 
rhetorical types, which are liable to become somewhat 
artificially viewed in prolonged separate study. Any pre- 
vious study of the short story ought to be advantageous in 
the examination of the closely allied, but more complicated, 
form of the novel. The short story has this advantage, 
that critical study and practical composition can go hand 
in hand; but many detached exercises in novelistic com- 
position might be profitable, at least for advanced students. 
The intimate relations of the novel to the drama and the 
epic are obvious, and suggest a frequent reference to 
masterpieces already familiar, or to new material. 

In spite of considerable criticism, and even ridicule, the 
study of comparative literature seems to be making prog- 
ress in America and in Europe, as a well-defined spirit, 
aim, and method. In an ideal arrangement, a course in 
the history of the novel would probably be undertaken 
from this point of view. It is impossible to gain a satis- 
factory view of the development of any national fiction 
without constant reference to the general European devel- 
opment of fiction. No adequate work in the latter subject 
exists in English, but the revised editions of Dunlop, with 
the assistance of various monographs, will furnish a valu- 
able background. In the matter of translations, while 
acquaintance with the originals is always desirable, there 
is probably less loss through a translation for the novel 
than for any other type of literature — especially for lyric 
poetry. If a spirit of cooperation exists among the modern 
language teachers of a school, combined effort can offer 
some instruction in comparative literature, without offense 
to the dignity of scholarship. 



INTRODUCTION xi 

One reason why the study of the novel has made slow 
progress, until recent years, is that it could not follow the 
traditional methods of criticism for the classics. Some 
classical teachers seem scornful of the study of modern 
literature, at least in the mother-tongue of the student. 
These conditions are not entirely discouraging. They 
may prove a stimulus in the development of a study of 
literature for its own sake, and in relation to social, ethical, 
and psychological interests rather than to philology, in its 
narrower meaning. When the novel is considered as the 
modern epic, moreover, even Homer and Vergil have a 
legitimate place in the wide comparative view of fiction ; 
and Coleridge suggests a tempting study when he writes, 
"Upon my word, I think the GEdipus Tyrannus, The 
Alchemist, and Tom Jones the three most perfect plots 
ever planned" (Table-talk, July 5, 1834). 

An intensive study of any art ought to increase interest 
in other arts, and to prove a good introduction, episode, or 
epilogue in a course of general aesthetics. The novel is 
often considered the most characteristic art-form of the 
nineteenth century. It offers one an inviting field for the 
concrete study of many important principles and problems 
of aesthetics, some of which have been brought into recent 
prominence because of its large vogue. Like music, fiction 
has the advantage of offering its masterpieces to communi- 
ties remote from the great art centers. 

The willing, if feminine, assistance the novel may give 
to ethics, history, psychology, and sociology ought not to 
be despised. Such studies as are outlined in Chapters X 
and XI directly concern the last two subjects, which are 
also touched at many points in the analysis of the form 
and matter of the novel itself. The psychology of charac- 
terization, if it does not yield real scientific data, furnishes 



xii INTRODUCTION 

an interesting literary comment on the science of the mind. 
The writer has known an instructor to analyze some of 
Poe's tales in a course in logic. For such a purpose a 
technical examination of the methods of motivation would 
not have come amiss. 

President King, of Oberlin College, makes contact with 
the complexity of life one of the three or four essentials of 
a real educational process. If this judgment is accepted, 
the large educational value of the novel can scarcely be 
denied. Complex in its origin, development, form, subject, 
and appeal, it introduces the mind to a world which has to 
some degree the aspect of a chaos rather than a cosmos, 
and yet is not without its laws. Fiction, in its ethics 
and its aesthetics, its exhibition of the individual, of society, 
and of religion, challenges the student to review his 
opinions; to distinguish truth from error, the significant 
from the insignificant; to search for the fundamental 
values of art and the essential meaning of experience. 
A study of the novel brings one face to face with strong 
and often restless minds, and invites one, by a slow and 
patient effort, to learn to know himself. 

Never perfect as a form of art, never presenting a per- 
fect individual or a perfect society, fiction represents the 
limitations, but also the living qualities, of romantic art, as 
conceived in a broad contrast to the classical ideal, by 
Browning : — 

To-day's brief passion limits their range ; 

It seethes with the morrow for us and more. 
They are perfect — how else ? they shall never change : 

We are faulty — why not ? we have time in store. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Preface v 



Introduction 



CHAPTER I 
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE 

SECTION 

1. Meaning of External Structure I 

2. Significance of External Structure 2 

3. Characteristics of Novelist ic Structure 2 

4. The Whole Composition 3 

5. The Title 5 

6. Length of Composition 6 

7. Principal Divisions of a Novel 7 

8. Volume, Part, and Book 8 

9. The Chapter 9 

10. The Paragraph 10 

11. Minor Divisions 12 

12. Prose and Verse 13 

13. Dramatic and Non-dramatic Form 15 

14. Non-dramatic Form 16 

15. Dialogic Form in General 17 

16. Soliloquy and Monologue 17 

17. Duologue 18 

18. Group Conversation (Conversation) 18 

19. Concerted Speech 19 

20. Documentary Form in General 20 

21. Epistolary Form 20 

22. Syntax 22 

23. Vocabulary 25 

24. Phonology 27 

xiii 



XIV CONTENTS 

CHAPTER II 
CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 

SECTION PAGE 

25. Significance of Consecutive Structure 28 

26. Sequence 29 

27. The Principal Masses 30 

28. Sequence of Dramatic and Non-dramatic Masses . . . . 3JL 

29. Beginning, Middle, and End 32 

30. Movement and Situation 33 

31. Event and Incident 34 

32. The Scene 36 

33. Episode 37 

34. Lines of Interest . 38 

35. The Line of Emotion 39 

36. Points 40 

37. Mass in Momentum 42 

38. The Rate of Movement 43 

39. Climax and Foiling 44 

40. Reciprocity 45 

41. Analysis of Simpler Narratives ....... 46 

CHAPTER III 
PLOT 

42. Meaning of Plot 47 

43. Necessity and Ideality of Narrative Plot 48 

44. Action and Narration 49 

45- Story 51 

46. Story and Plot 51 

47. The Plot Proper 52 

48. The Single Action 53 

49. Sequence of Simple Narratives 56 

50. The Dramatic Line 57 

51. The Climax 59 

52. The Catastrophe 60 

53. Motivation 62 

54. Motivating Forces 63 

55. The Narrator. — His Point of View 66 

56. Temporal Point of View 67 

57. Spatial Point of View 69 



CONTENTS xv 

SECTION PAGE 

58. Character Point of View 71 

59. Generalized Statement of Plot 72 

60. Unity of Plot 73 

61. Types of Plot . . . . . . . . . -74 

The Judgment of Plot 76 

CHAPTER IV 

THE SETTINGS 

63. ^Esthetic Function of Settings 78 

General Time Setting 78 

Detailed Time Settings 79 

General Place Setting 81 

Detailed Place Settings 82 

Circumstantial Settings 8^ 

Reality, Ideality, and Truth ........ 84 

Vague and Exact Settings 85 

Natural, Social, and Socialized Settings 86 

Author and Dramatis Personam 87 

Distribution 88 

Further Economy 89 



CHAPTER V 

THE DRAMATIS PERSONS 

Composition 91 

Number 92 

Chapter Distribution 93 

Grouping in General 93 

Successive Groups . . . . . . . . . .94 

Foreground, Middleground, and Background Characters . . 96 

Central Characters : . . . -97 

Association of Characters 99 

Relation to the Author 1 01 

Reality and Ideality 102 

Individuals and Types 104 

Social Groups 105 

Psychological Groups 107 



xvi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VI 
CHARACTERIZATION 

SECTION PAGE 

88. Character and Characterization 109 

89. Novelistic Characterization no 

90. Character Unfolding . .111 

91. Appellation . . . . .112 

92. Physiognomy 113 

93. Costume and Physical Environment 114. 

94. Pantomime . . . . .116 

95. Utterance 117 

96. Physiological Psychology 118 

97. Pure Psychology 120 

98. Identity, Individuality, and Type . » 121 

99. Character Change 124 

100. Direct and Indirect Characterization .125 

101. General Methods 127 

102. Group Characterization .128 

CHAPTER VII 

SUBJECT-MATTER 

103. Subject-Matter and Form . . 130 

104. Extensive and Intensive Subject 131 

105. The Typical and the Individual 131 

106. Exhibition and Interpretation 131 

107. The Subject of the Novel 132 

108. Sociology and History 132 

109. Social Composition 133 

no. Social Life 135 

111. Historical Period 138 

112. Historical Interpretation 139 

113. Individuality. • 140 

114. The Individual and Society 142 

115. Human Nature 143 

116. Nature in Man ... 144 

117. External Nature 144 

118. The Supernatural 145 

119. General Philosophy 147 

120. The Main Theme 148 



CONTENTS xvii 

CHAPTER VIII 
STYLE 

SECTION PAGE 

General Conception 150 

Objective and Subjective Aspects . . • ... • 151 

Qualities of Style , 151 

Types of Style 152 

Value of Style in the Novel 152 

The Novelistic Type 154 

Novelistic Qualities 154 

Comprehensiveness 155 

Objectivity 156 

Concreteness . . . . 158 

Complexity 160 

Secularity 161 

Humor 162 

Ideality 163 

Force 164 

Other Qualities 165 

CHAPTER IX 

THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION 

Value of the Study 166 

The Data for Study 166 

The Germ of the Work 167 

The Plan 169 

The Sources 170 

The Time Perspective 173 

Technic of the Process 174 

Psychology of the Process 176 

Collaboration 180 

Fragments 180 

CHAPTER X 
THE SHAPING FORCES 

147. General Conception 181 

148. The Data 182 

149. Individuality of the Author 183 



xviii CONTENTS 

SECTION PAGE 

150. The Author's Age 184 

151. Sex .185 

152. Personal Episode 186 

153. National and Racial Influences . 187 

154. Linguistic Influence 191 

155. Literary Influence . . . 193 

156. Historical Influence 195 

157. Immediate Social Environment 197 

158. Human Nature 198 

159. The Influence of Nature . . ... . . . 199 

CHAPTER XI 
THE INFLUENCE OF A NOVEL 

160. Popularity of Fiction . . . . . . . . . 202 

161. The Data 203 

162. Time Distribution 203 

163. Place Distribution 204 

164. Influence upon Literature 205 

165. Social Groups in General . . 207 

166. Influence upon Individuals 208 

167. Kind and Degree of Influence 209 

168. Perceptual Effect 209 

169. Sensational Effect 211 

170. Emotional Effect 212 

171. Conceptual Effect 213 

172. Volitional Effect 214 

173. The Influencing Elements . 214 

174. The Causes of Influence 216 

CHAPTER XII 
COMPARATIVE RHETORIC 

175. Nature of the Study 218 

176. The Forms of Discourse 218 

177. Prose and Poetry 219 

1 78. Prose and Verse 220 

179. The Short Story 221 

180. The Epic 222 

181. Biography 224 



CONTENTS xix 

SECTION PAGE 

182. History 225 

183. The Essay 226 

184. The Lyric 227 

185. Journalism . 229 

186. Other Types of Literature 230 

CHAPTER XIII 

COMPARATIVE AESTHETICS 

Relation of the Separate Arts 232 

Classification of the Arts 233 

Method of Study 233 

The Drama 234 

Painting 237 

Sculpture 239 

Music 241 

Architecture 243 

Landscape Gardening 245 

CHAPTER XIV 

GENERAL .ESTHETIC INTEREST 

.Esthetic Analysis and .Esthetic Theory 247 

Nature and Humanity in a Work of Art 247 

Language as External Material 248 

The Value of Form ......... 249 

Individuality of a Work of Art 249 

201. Unity — General Design 250 

202. Contrast 252 

Proportion 253 

The Comic and the Tragic 254 

The Beautiful and the Unbeautiful . . . . . .256 

Artistic Truth 257 

Artistic Illusion 258 

Theories of Art 260 

Theories of the Novel 262 

Judgment of a Novel 263 



XX CONTENTS 

APPENDIX 

PAGE 

I. Systematic Analysis of a Novel 265 

II. Glossary and Topical References 269 

III. Types of Prose Fiction 279 

IV. Notes on the History of Novelistic Criticism . . • 286 
V. Bibliography and References 309 

Index . 319 



THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

CHAPTER I 
EXTERNAL STRUCTURE 

i. Meaning of External Structure. — Like all other 
artists, the novelist communicates with us solely through a 
sensuous medium — an external material. For the novel- 
ist this medium is language, considered as already pre- 
pared for him by nature and society, and significant in the 
study of an individual work only as an individual novelist 
has given it a particular structure. This medium itself, 
differing in no very important respects for all the forms 
of literature, is considered in the chapter on General 
^Esthetic Interest. 

The form given to language in a novel, as observed by 
eye and ear, whether referring to small details or to the 
whole composition, may be called, for the sake of clear- 
ness, the " external structure." Primarily, and especially 
from the aesthetic point of view, the appeal of this 
structure is to the ear. The complete evaluation of the 
structural interest of a novel can be given only when it is 
read aloud. Practically, in most cases, the values of the 
structure as an arrangement of sounds, reach us through 
the medium of the eye, and this visible structure comes to 
have a certain, though relatively slight, aesthetic value in 
itself. A sonnet is more readily appreciated when it is 
printed compactly on a single page. 



2 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

2. Significance of External Structure. — The larger units 
of external structure in a novel have comparatively little 
aesthetic significance in themselves, as compared with those 
of the spatial arts. There is no very obvious artistic dif- 
ference between a novel divided into " parts " and one 
divided into chapters only ; but these divisions are impor- 
tant when we interpret them in their relation to the " in- 
ternal structure.' ' The smaller structural forms, those 
which the ear distinctly grasps as units — the phrase, 
sentence, paragraph — may have a definite aesthetic value 
in themselves. Elaborate attention to the sound-values 
of every detail of structure is more characteristic of verse 
than of prose, and some critics would probably consider it 
antagonistic to the nature of the novel as a prose form. 
On the whole, the tendency to develop these values per- 
sistently is more characteristic of the short story than of 
longer fictions, and more characteristic of the romance 
than of the novel. 

3. Characteristics of Novelistic Structure. — All the 

structural forms of the novel are found in other kinds of 
literature. The novel differs from its literary fellows only 
by a characteristic combination of structural units, and in 
some cases, by a special adaptation of them. No form of 
prose literature, in English at least, has a perfectly definite 
structure determining the type of the whole composition. 
In comparison with the sonnet, rondeau, ballade, etc., the 
novel, the essay, the oration, are all " amorphous." The 
history of the novel shows no very important development 
in this respect, though somewhat more careful attention to 
the treatment of structural units is naturally found in the 
more modern novelists. 

The novel, in a generic sense including the romance, 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE 3 

as written to-day, is fairly determinate in the following 
respects : — 

1. It is written almost entirely in prose. 

2. It contains from fifty thousand to five hundred thou- 

sand words. 

3. It is divided into paragraphs, and the paragraphs 

grouped into one, or usually more than one, kind 
- of higher division. 

4. It has a distinct, separate title or titles, sufficient to 

distinguish it from all other individual works. 
(Compare some lyrics, called simply " Lines,' ' "A 
Song," etc. ; histories identified by the author's 
name, etc.) 

5. It is composed of a significant combination, in alter- 

nation, of dramatic form (quoted speech) and of 
non-dramatic (unquoted speech). If the entire 
novel is supposed to be quoted speech, as in the 
epistolary and other documentary types, there is a 
secondary dramatic form within this. Specially 
characteristic of the novel, as distinct from the 
drama, is the " described dialogue," as contrasted 
with the " set " or pure dramatic dialogue. 

4. The Whole Composition. — The mere determination 
of the composition is not quite so simple a matter as it 
might seem. Ordinarily a single novel is taken as a unit 
for careful study. 

This frequently includes more than the " story " proper — the con- 
tinuous illusion of the plot. It may be introduced by a " dramatic " 
preface, with an illusion of its own, as in Scott's Old Mortality, Bride 
of Lammermoor, etc. In the latter work, Chapter I is supposed to be 
written by Peter Pattieson, is quite separate from the story proper, and 
contains an interesting and fairly complete little story in itself. A novel 



4 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

may end as well as begin with this dramatic addition to the story 
proper; as does, for example, The Heart of Midlothian. 

The " single novel" may be a member of a group, 
which must be examined if one is fully to comprehend 
the isolated member. A familiar example of the grouping 
of a number of single compositions into a larger whole is 
found in the so-called "frame." This form has been most 
frequently used in the short story, notably in the famous 
examples of the Decameron, Heptameron, Canterbury 
Tales, etc., but it is occasionally found in the novel. 

Scott partially carries out the " frame " idea in his Tales of My 
Landlord. The " frame," in this case, includes several minor charac- 
ters, as well as the principal ones — Jedediah Cleishbotham and Peter 
Pattieson — and a number of interesting incidents and settings. An ex- 
ample of a long fiction belonging to a larger non-fictive whole is Paul 
and Virginia, composed as one of Saint-Pierre's u Studies of Nature." 
This famous idyl can, to say the least, be better understood if one has 
some acquaintance with the " whole composition," of which it is in a 
sense a part. One of the most interesting examples of a fictive compo- 
sition including an expanded part essentially non-fictive is Robinson 
Crusoe. To most readers, Robinson Crusoe means what Defoe finally 
considered only the first of three parts of that work. 

In some cases, to give variety and scope to the study, 
one may take as the unit of analysis, not a single novel, but 
a group of related novels. These are properly one com- 
position only when they were so intended by the author 
himself ; but this is not a rare case in the history of the 
novel. The degree of unity in such series, in characters, 
plot, settings, etc., is very various. In regular "duodrama," 
trilogy, or tetralogy, a very high degree of unity may be 
found, worthy of close examination. 

One form with less definitely planned unity is that of the simple con- 
tinuation, frequently suggested by another than the novelist, after the 
publication of the first part, as in Pamela, Don Quixote, etc. Some- 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE 5 

times such continuation has been forced upon the author by a spurious 
one. Continuation by another than the original author offers interest- 
ing material for study of the process of composition. 

Larger groups may be called series, or cycles. Their 
organization is sometimes quite complex, as in what is 
probably the supreme example, the Comedie Humaine 
of Balzac. For special purposes still looser groups may 
be studied together : as a novel and its imitations, for 
example, Robinson Crusoe and the " Robinsonades " of 
German fiction ; or a work and burlesques upon it, as 
Pamela and Joseph Andrews, the romances of chivalry 
and Don Quixote, Gothic romances and Jane Austen's 
Northanger Abbey. 

Examples of Novelistic Groups. — Dualogy: Valdes — Riverita, 
Maximina; Goethe — Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre and Wanderjahre. 
Trilogy: Scott — Waverley, Guy Mannering, Antiquary (see advertise- 
ment to last, 1829); Zola — Lourdes, Rome, Paris; Sienkiewicz — With 
Fire and Sword, The Deluge, Pan Michael ; d'Annunzio — Romances of 
the Lily; in some sense the novels of Richardson. Series: Freytag — 
DieAhnen; Zola — The Rougon-Macquart novels ; Trollope — Chron- 
icles of Barsetshire. Cycle : Balzac — Comedie Humaine ; Waverley 
Novels. (For grouping in Scott's mind, see his own introductions.) 

Even when the composition is a single novel, it may con- 
tain an intercalated story that is aesthetically quite inde- 
pendent (Don Quixote, Gil Bias, Tom Jones, Tale of Two 
Cities, etc.). A unique example of intercalation is the 
complete drama in Ziegler's Asiatische Banise. 

5. The Title. — In the introduction of 1829 to Rob Roy, 
Scott, speaking of the title, says, "A good name [is] 
very nearly of as much consequence in literature as in 
life." (Compare Chapter I of Waverley.) In the intro- 
duction of 1830 to Ivanhoe, he states the theory that a 
title should conceal the nature of the composition; yet 



6 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

probably the most natural function of a title is to express 
in some manner the main theme of the novel. It may 
refer more particularly to characters, settings, or action ; 
it may be realistic, romantic, impressionistic, etc. A title 
often has some special significance not apparent on the 
surface. Note, for example, Joseph Andrews, Sense and 
Sensibility, Nouvelle Heloi'se, Turgenieff's On the Eve, 
Comedie Humaine. 

The titles of English sentimental fiction toward the close of the 
eighteenth century include : Sentimental Tales, The Tears of Sensibil- 
ity, The Man of Feeling, The Effusions of the Heart, and many others 
of like nature. Characteristic of nineteenth century realism are such 
titles as A Modern Instance (Howells), A Common Story (Gontcharoff ), 
One of Life's Slaves (Lie), Life's Little Ironies (Thomas Hardy). 

In form, a title may be single or double ; thematic or 
analytical ; purely individual, or including a type word 
or phrase. Of such type words story, novel, romance, ad- 
ventures, history, life, etc., are common examples. 

Adventures is a common type word in the novel of action, occurring 
in Smollett frequently, in Robinson Crusoe, Joseph Andrews, Oliver 
Twist, Kidnapped, etc. History has been common since Painter wrote 
(preface to The Palace of Pleasure, 1565) of "histories, which, by 
another term, I call novels. 1 ' It was specially frequent in the latter part 
of the eighteenth century ; " secret history " being a somewhat charac- 
teristic variation. 

An old-fashioned artificial device is the repetition of the title at the 
end of the novel, used some half-dozen times by Scott, and in Soil und 
Haben. Titles of the subdivisions of structure are often important. 

6. Length of Composition. — Recent criticism has em- 
phasized the idea that the difference between the modern 
short story and the novel is not primarily one of length. 
Still it is true that marked variation in length implies 
aesthetic difference in the fictions themselves, the process 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE 7 

of composition, and the effect on the reader. Silas Mar- 
ner and War and Peace may both be called novels; 
but the fact that the former contains about seventy-five 
thousand words and the latter about seven hundred thou- 
sand concerns every important aspect of the two works. 
The mere labor of writing and reading the heroic romances 
— those fictions a longite haleine — is indicative of signifi- 
cant social conditions during the period of their popularity. 
Richardson was fully conscious of the great length of his 
novels, and offers apology or explanations therefor. 

The length of a novel may be given in pages, but the approximate 
length in words is more convenient for purposes of comparison, espe- 
cially with compositions in verse. A classification for practical pur- 
poses may follow some such outline as this : — 

Minor Novel. From 50,000 to 125,000 words. Silas Marner, 75,000 ; 
Scarlet Letter, 70,000. 

Paradise Lost contains about 85,000 words; the Divine Comedy 
about 100,000. 

Medium Novel. 1 25,000 to 250,000 words. Mrs. Radcliffe's Romance 
of the Forest, 130,000; Adam Bede, 200,000. 

Major Novel. 250,000 to 500,000 words. David Copperfield, 
340,000; Daniel Deronda, 320,000. 

Maximum Novel. More than 500,000 words. War and Peace, 
700,000 ; Clarissa Harlowe, 800,000 ; Madelaine de Scudery's Grand 
Cyrus, 1,800,000. 

The entire Comedie Humaine contains something like 4,000,000 
words : The Waverley Novels are about the same length. 

7. Principal Divisions of a Novel. — In a typical novel 
these are the chapter and paragraph: in longer fictions, 
the part, volume, and book are frequently added. The 
epistolary novel often has no further divisions than the 
letters themselves, frequently given with separate numbers 
or headings. 

The narrative quality of Defoe's novels is emphasized by his habitual 
limitation to the paragraph. Clara Reeve's Old English Baron and 



8 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Brooke's Juliet Grenville are other examples of undivided eighteenth 
century novels. Scott invariably uses the chapter and rarely a higher 
division, though he is fond of dramatic prefaces, postscripts, etc. 
Dickens generally has only chapter divisions. 

In one fiction or another nearly every possible method of division is 
found. Verri's Notti Romane, nights, colloquies ; White's Earl Strong- 
bow, nights ; Leland's Longsword, sections ; Gogol's Dead Souls, epic 
cantos ; Sarah Fielding and Jane Collier's The Cry, scenes. 

8. Volume, Part, and Book. — When a mere accident of 
publication, the volume has no artistic significance, but it is 
often a genuine unit of structure, sometimes with separate 
title. When both part and book are used, the former is 
generally the major division. The book is found in the 
Greek romances, as one of the results of epic influence, 
and has since been associated with the theory of the novel 
as the modern epic. Fielding divided all his novels into 
books, establishing a temporary precedent so strong that 
the preface 1 to The Cry (1754) refers to "the common 
divisions of book and chapter." Mrs. Radcliffe returned 
to a simple chapter division. There is sometimes a high 
degree of unity in these larger divisions, in characters, 
theme, setting, or action. There may be a distinct dra- 
matic line. Sometimes there is a more external unity ; as 
of epistolary structure, Balzac's Deputy for Arcis, or of in- 
tercalated narrative, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, Book VI. 

Balzac frequently uses parts (A Woman of Thirty, Lost Illusions, etc.), 
and in general a somewhat complicated division. Parts are found in 
Zola's Downfall and The Soil, Scarron's Roman Comique, Nouvelle 
Helo'ise, George Sand's Lelia and Indiana, and many other well-known 
fictions. 

Books are used in Esmond, Corinne, Amadis of Gaul, Wilhelm 
Meister, Notre Dame de Paris, Hall Caine's The Manxman, Daniel 
Deronda, Tale of Two Cities, etc. The epic number twelve is found in 
Gil Bias, Amelia, and Grave's Spiritual Quixote. 

1 Probably written by Miss Fielding. 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE 9 

9. The Chapter. — While found in other forms of com- 
position, this is the structural unit most characteristic of 
the novel. It is used with great freedom, its value depend- 
ing on relation to the individual work rather than to abstract 
rhetorical principle. While the chapter bears a certain 
analogy to the dramatic scene, the number of chapters 
often greatly exceeds the number of scenes in a well- 
constructed drama. In length, also, the chapter shows 
great variation ; but for a given novel there is a certain 
norm below and above which a true aesthetic quality is 
lost. The realists, for example Trollope, Howells, Jane 
Austen, are comparatively regular. The romanticists and 
the pure humorists are much more capricious. Marked 
brevity is sometimes a source of humorous effect; occasion- 
ally a source of tragic effect. 

The unity of a chapter is generally quite distinct. Ex- 
ternally it may appear in title, motto, or dramatic form. 
A chapter frequently has a definite introductory and con- 
cluding paragraph, or begins and ends with marked 
single effects. Trollope occasionally opens a chapter 
with the same words that conclude the preceding chapter. 
(Can You Forgive Her? XII and XIII; Framley Parson- 
age, IX and X.) The first and last chapters of a novel 
often have some distinctive form. The first chapter in 
Trollope rarely contains dialogue ; the first chapters of 
Scott's Tales of My Landlord are first-person narra- 
tives by "Peter Pattieson." A chapter is naturally more 
distinctly unified in respect to the characters, settings, 
action, process of composition and effect than the larger 
divisions, and less so than the paragraph. In the novel 
of character the introduction of important new characters 
usually demands a new chapter; in the novel of action, 
important incident. 



10 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 



EXAMPLES 



Number of chapters : Peregrine Pickle, 106; Amelia, 115; Tom 
Jones, 208; War and Peace, 362. Chapter length: Notre Dame de 
Paris, 1 to 40 pages (roinanticism) ; Gil Bias, 1 to 60 (humor) . 
Humorous brevity: Tristram Shandy; Bulwer's Paul Clifford, 27. 
Tragic brevity: Bulwe^s Kenelm Chillingly, VIII, 6; Gald6s' Dona 
Perfecta, last chapter. 

Mottos are characteristic of the romantic movement, and of ro- 
mance generally. Scott uses them habitually, perhaps following Mrs. 
Radcliffe in this respect as in others. See his comment on the 
practise; Rob Roy, advertisement, The Monastery, Chapter III, and 
elsewhere. Other famous fictions with chapter mottos are, Vigny's 
Cinq Mars, Last of the Mohicans, HaufFs Lichtenstein, Kingsley 1 s 
Westward Ho ! 

Definite introduction: Ivanhoe, 1, 3, 4, 5, etc.; Last of the Mohi- 
cans, 3, 9, 11, etc. Definite conclusion: Ivanhoe, 3, 6, 9, etc. ; Last of 
the Mohicans, 1, 9, 10, etc. Epistolary form (common) : Trollope's 
Can You Forgive Her? II, 4; Bulwer's Kenelm Chillingly, four ex- 
amples. Semi-soliloquy : Tolstoi's Resurrection, III, 40. Monologue: 
Adam Bede, 2. Duologue: Last of the Mohicans, 5, 12, 19, 20, 21; 
Ivanhoe, 6, 15, 16, 20, 21, 28, 29. Conversation : Last of the Mohicans, 
4; Ivanhoe, 5, 7; Silas Marner, 6. Set dra7natic form: Fielding's 
Jonathan Wild, III, 8. Intercalated reverting narrative: The Resur- 
rection, I, 2, 37; Adam Bede, 45. Essay: Frequent in Fielding, 
especially in the first chapters of books ; Notre Dame de Paris, III, 2 ; 

V,2. 

Chapter groups occur in nearly every novel, sometimes marked 
definitely in the external structure, as in Stevenson's Black Arrow, 
" The Good Hope," " The Good Hope Continued," " The Good Hope 
Concluded"; and in Trollope's Barchester Towers, 'Ullathorne Sports, 
Act I, Act II, Act III.' Other examples of chapter groups are found 
in The Virginians, II, 2 to 4, intercalated narrative ; Adam Bede, 6 to 
8, 21 to 26, 27 and 28, episodes ; Tolstoi's Resurrection, II, 12 to 18, 
reverting narrative reminisce7ice. 

10. The Paragraph. — The paragraph in the novel is 
more flexible than in most forms of prose, and is one of 
the elements in the complexity of novelistic structure. It 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE II 

may be differentiated for narrative, descriptive, dramatic, 
and lyrical service, and these functions change often in the 
typical novel. The paragraph has undergone great devel- 
opment in the course of its history. 1 In the early romance 
it is frequently exceedingly long, and without artistic unity 
(Boyle's Parthenissa contains one of over fourteen thou- 
sand words), while in some of the recent short story writers 
there is an almost abnormal consciousness of paragraph 
value. In general, the shorter the composition, the more 
significant the paragraph division. There is great range 
of length in the typical novel. In Silas Marner the short- 
est paragraph is a dramatic speech of two words — "That's 
ended/ ' Chapter XX ; the longest, a third-person narrative 
episode of five hundred words in Chapter IV. 

As in real life, careful attention to paragraph structure 
is not characteristic of conversation, but of artificial written 
speech, the realistic novel is not inclined to elaborate it 
in dialogic passages. Its chief technical use, in this par- 
ticular, is to set off the single speech, the connectives, and 
the author's comment. In the romance and romantic 
novel, however, it may be devoted to poetical purpose, 
even approaching the structure and value of the stanza. 
Other important functions of the paragraph are generali- 
zation ; transition from one action or character to another ; 
characterization ; setting ; motivation ; foreshadowing and 
preparation ; summary of situation, etc. 

The very short paragraph is often effective for striking dramatic or 
sensational emphasis. Such usage is characteristic of Hugo. It also 
aids rapidity and isolation of incident in narrative passages. Various 
effects of symmetry, monotony, climax, may be gained by the careful 
construction of a series of paragraphs. Occasionally in compositions 

1 See E. H. Lewis's History of the English Paragraph, 1894. 



12 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

or passages of a lyrical character a paragraph is repeated in substance 
or verbatim, as a sort of leit-motif or refrain. Examples are found in 
d'Annunzio's Triumph of Death and in Dombey and Son. 

ii. Minor Divisions. — The main text of a novel is fre- 
quently accompanied by one or more of the following 
accessories : critical or fictitious preface ; dedication ; lists 
of dramatis personae; annotation; historical document; 
epilogue, etc. 

The fictitious preface may relate to the author, to the novel itself, 
or to almost independent incidents and characters. One of its special 
services is to introduce the illusion of the imaginary manuscript; 
another to explain the initial circumstances of a voyage imaginaire. 
A study of the fictitious prefaces of Scott will reveal most of the con- 
ventions, powers, and limitations of the form. Examples are found in 
Quentin Durward (9000 words), Rob Roy, Fortunes of Nigel, Peveril 
of the Peak, Tales of My Landlord, I Promessi Sposi, Henry Esmond, 
La Nouvelle Helo'ise, Castle of Otranto, Holberg's Iter Subterraneum. 

Final divisions, like epilogue, etc., are usually brief. They may recur 
to the fiction of the preface, as in the " peroration " of Old Mortality, 
or outline the future of the characters and action of the novel, or gen- 
eralize on the picture of life that has been presented. A definitely 
stated moral, common in medieval fiction, is rare in modern fiction. 
One occurs at the close of the Heart of Midlothian, I Promessi Sposi, 
and the original form of Balzac's Peau de Chagrin. 

Lists of dramatis persona, with some slight characterization, are 
found in the novels of Richardson and in a few other fictions. Anno- 
tation of the main narrative by a fictitious character is not an uncom- 
mon device, and is often an effective means of increasing the illusion 
of reality. It is used in Old Mortality, Esmond, The Virginians, 
Stevenson's Master of Ballantrae. Historical document, occasionally 
found in earlier fiction, may be most conveniently studied in Scott 
and his school. The novel with a key was prominent in the seven- 
teenth century (heroic romance ; satire ; political fiction, as in Barclay's 
Argenis) ; and in the eighteenth century, with its fondness for the 
"secret history" and intrigues of the aristocracy (for example, Mrs. 
Haywood's Memoirs of . . . Utopia). 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE I 3 

12. Prose and Verse. — In realistic novels verse enters 
mainly as a subordinate element, either to aid in charac- 
terization, or to give color to a particular time or place 
setting, especially in historical fiction. Many lyrics are 
found in Scott's romances. Examples of more recent 
realistic use are found in Balzac's Letters of Two 
Brides, Sudermann's Frau Sorge, Valera's Comendador 
Mendoza. The logical connection of the verse with the 
action and the degree of fusion with the Active illusion as 
a whole vary considerably. In the fictions of the romantic 
movement, at the beginning of the last century, the liberal 
use of verse is characteristic of the lyrical tendency of the 
period. The novelist himself was frequently a poet, and 
instinctively selected a character with poetic gifts for hero 
or heroine ; or his desire to arouse poetic emotion in the 
reader led to the introduction of verse. 

Mrs. Radcliffe's titles sometimes include the phrase "interspersed 
with some pieces of poetry." Gaston de Blondeville contains a poem 
of about five hundred lines ; the Mysteries of Udolpho and Romance 
of the Forest each has some fifteen poems. Other fictions with the 
romantic use of verse are Werther, Ivanhoe, Madame de StaePs Corinne, 
Andersen's Improvisatore, Bulwer's Kenelm Chillingly. 

In the romance of the Middle Ages and the early Re- 
naissance we find a more distinctly structural value of verse; 
though there is no literary form in which the structural 
relations of prose and verse are definite. The nearest 
approach to such relation is in works like Dante's Vita 
Nuova, drama of the Shakespearian type, and the pas- 
toral romance. This last form originated in the classical 
metrical pastoral, and always retained more or less dis- 
tinctly a prosimetrical structure ; usually with definite pre- 
dominance of verse, as in Belleau's Journee de la Bergerie, 
or of prose, as in Sannazaro's Arcadia and Lodge's Rosa- 



14 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

lind. The arrangement is always an alternation of prose 
and verse. In the romance of chivalry as a distinct type 
(it is often combined with the pastoral), the verse is in- 
herited from the metrical romances of chivalry, long or 
short Akin to this type is the prosimetrical saga; for 
example, the Volsunga Saga. Some of the tales of 
William Morris revived this early structure. 

Examples of Prosimetrical Structure 

Per cent of Verse Per cent of Prose 

Boccaccio's Ameto 15 85 

Sannazaro's Arcadia 28 72 

Sidney's Arcadia 7 93 

Cervantes' Galatea 38 62 

Morris' House of the Wolfings .15 85 

Rhythmical prose, in sustained passages, is far more 
characteristic of the short story, the romance, and roman- 
tic novel, than of the realistic novel. It is usually in- 
troduced without definite structural distinction, but is 
occasionally found in more formal manner. Important 
examples are found in the Renaissance attempts to com- 
bine the values of poetry and prose, as in Euphuism ; and 
in the Ossianic movement of the eighteenth century. 1 In 
serious imitation of epic style it is found in Gogol's Taras 
Bulba; in burlesque imitation, in Swift's Battle of the 
Books, and in passages of Fielding and Smollett. 

Mere fragments of rhythmical prose may of course occur in any pas- 
sage of heightened lyrical expression. 

Bulwer's Rienzi, Book VII, Chapter 7 : — 

" Thrice blessed name ! Immortal Florentine " (perfect " iambic 
pentameter"). 

1 See Riemann's Goethes Romantechnik, pp. 145 fF. 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE I 5 

" I tell thee, Brettone, that this loose Italy has crowns on the hedge 
that a dexterous hand may carry off at the point of the lance ! " 
(" anapestic coloring ") . 



13. Dramatic and Non-dramatic Form. — All language 
that is supposed to belong to a character, historical or Ac- 
tive, other than the author, may be considered " dramatic. " 
The author's own language when fictitious, as in imag- 
inary dialogue with a character, may also be included. 
Language supposed to be reproduced with only partial 
accuracy may be called " semi-dramatic. " When dramatic 
language within dramatic language occurs, as in the dia- 
logue of epistolary novels, the including form may be 
distinguished as " primary," the included as " secondary." 
This arrangement is characteristic of the novel, and 
one of the elements of complexity in its structure. For 
convenience, all language presented as spoken may be 
called " dialogic ; " all presented as written, " document- 
ary." 

A conscious, sustained alternation of dramatic and non-dramatic form 
is characteristic of both epic and novel. The difference between the 
two types, in this particular, consists largely in the less frequent change 
from one form to the other in the epic, resulting in a much less compli- 
cated structure. The approximate number of transitions in Beowulf is 
90 ; in Paradise Lost, 350 ; in so short a fiction as Tolstoi's Master and 
Man, 625. 

Different novels show very various proportion and dis- 
tribution between the two forms, indicative of great dif- 
ferences in the general nature of the compositions. The 
three tendencies toward emphasis on the dramatic, empha- 
sis on the non-dramatic, and equivalence of the two may 
be expressed by the simple formulas : Narrative-DRAMA ; 
Dramatic-NARRATivE ; Dramatic-Narrative. 



/ 



1.6 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Per cent of Per cent of 

Narrative-DRAMA Dramatic Form Non-dramatic 

Theagenes and Chariclea .... 60 40 

Book of Ruth 60 40 

Paradise Lost 60 40 

Dramatic-NARRATIVE 

Bride of Lammermoor 40 60 

Tolstoi's Master and Man . . , 35 65 

Goethe's Wahlverwandtschaften -35 65 

Silas Marner 25 75 

Defoe's Plague Year 5 95 

(This exemplifies Defoe's strong tendency toward pure narrative. 
Of course the entire Plague Year is dramatic, as purporting to be 
written by a fictitious character.) 

Dramatic-Narrative 
Sense and Sensibility 45 55 

14. Non-dramatic Form. — In decided subordination to 
dramatic form, the non-dramatic may precede, accompany, 
or follow the former. An extended dialogue usually has a 
definite introduction and conclusion, as well as intercalated 
comment. In Silas Marner, Chapter VI is introduced by 
the first paragraph of that chapter and the last of Chapter V. 

In this chapter the longest comment is in paragraphs 17, 29, and 41 
— relatively short passages. The merely mechanical dialogic connec- 
tives are essential to clearness in complicated dialogue, but are some- 
times omitted in simple dialogue. Scott writes in Chapter I of the 
Bride of Lammermoor of the " everlasting ' said he's ' and ' said she's ' " 
of his preceding novels. There are some fifty merely mechanical con- 
nectives in Chapter VI of Silas Marner ; over thirty of them following 
the monotonous form, " said Mr. Macey," " said the landlord," etc. 

In more independent use, non-dramatic language appears 
with characteristic structural value, and often with approach 
to a set form, for narration of action not directly repre- 
sented, intercalated narrative, transition from one character, 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE I 7 

setting, or action to another, statement of situation, exposi- 
tion, generalization, aside to reader, lyrical expression, de- 
scription of settings and characters, etc. 

15. Dialogic Form in General. — Dialogue in a generic 
sense includes soliloquy, monologue, duologue, group con- 
versation (which may for brevity be called simply conver- 
sation), and concerted speech. In the novel these forms 
shade off gradually from the non-dramatic. The speech 
of a character may be represented so as to give merely the 
substance of the thought; or in complete quotation, with 
accompanying comment, etc. Occasionally dialogue is 
found in "set dramatic form, ,, the names of the speakers 
placed as in the text of drama. 

Set dramatic form has some special interest in connection with the 
technical and theoretical relations of the novel, the drama, and literary 
dialogues like Ascham's Toxophilus, Walton's Complete Angler, etc. 
In shorter fictions it is sometimes the chief form, as in Bunyan's Mr. 
Badman; in the novel it rarely occurs except in brief passages. 
Examples are found in Pilgrim's Progress, the Holy War, Defoe's 
Plague Year, Colonel Jacque, and Robinson Crusoe, Fielding's Jona- 
than Wild, Pamela, etc. Scott introduces it only in the dramatic pref- 
aces of The Fortunes of Nigel and Peveril of the Peak. 

16. Soliloquy and Monologue. — In soliloquy, in a strict 
sense, the speaker is alone, or supposes himself to be 
alone ; in monologue he may have any number of listeners. 
In the novel, extended, formal use of either (sometimes 
they are given distinct headings, as in Lodge's Rosalind, 
Sidney's Arcadia, and Lyly's Euphues) is rarely found 
except in earlier fiction, where it is probably imitative of 
dramatic and epic usage. Semi-dramatic soliloquy and 
monologue, on the other hand, are characteristic of the 
novel at any period. The most common monologue is 
that which develops in the course of a duologue or con- 



1 8 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

versation ; especially in the form of intercalated narrative. 
Fictions in the /-form are technically monologic through- 
out, whether supposed to be spoken (dialogic) or written 
(documentary), but as a matter of convention they fre- 
quently include as much dialogue, in as distinct a form, 
as other types. 

17. Duologue. — This may be considered the standard 
dramatic form of the novel. Its predominance is due 
partly to its importance in actual life ; partly to the influ- 
ence of drama, epic and didactic dialogue; partly, per- 
haps, to the relative ease with which it may be written, as 
compared with conversation. In Silas Marner there are 
some twenty duologues and only some seven or eight dis- 
tinct conversations. When the single speeches and the 
author's comment are given in separate paragraphs, the 
structure of a duologue appears at a glance. It tends 
on the one hand to pass into monologue ; on the other 
to become isometric. The latter structure is sometimes 
found in early fiction in almost as formal manner as in 
the stichometric passages of epic, dramatic, and pastoral 
verse, but it is too artificial for realistic effect. 

The merely mechanical connectives are not so essential in duologue 
as in conversation. The novelist is free to interrupt the duologue at 
will by brief or extended comment, but as a member of a trio he may 
appear more prominent to the reader than as a member of a larger 
group of speakers. Comment between speeches is of course less emphatic 
than that which interrupts a speaker. The mechanical structure of 
Chapter III of Silas Marner is as follows: Dunstan Cass speaks 15 
times, 66 lines ; Godfrey Cass, 14 times, 54 lines ; the author, 13 times 
(interrupting a speech 6 times), 64 lines. This duologue is therefore 
decidedly novelistic rather than dramatic. 

18. Group Conversation (Conversation). — A sustained, 
realistic conversation of even three speakers is much more 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE I 9 

difficult to compose than duologue, is a sign of true dra- 
matic imagination, and a distinguishing mark of great 
novelistic technic. The complexity of its structure is due 
chiefly to the great possible variety in sequence and length 
of speeches, and of connectives and comment. In the 
simplest form of purely dramatic conversation — three 
speakers with two speeches each — there are twenty-four 
possible sequences. 

In the chief conversational chapter of Silas Marner, Chapter VI, A 
speaks 10 times, B 10, C 11, D 12, is 4, F 4 — a total of 51 speeches by 
the characters. The author, omitting purely mechanical connectives, 
speaks 38 times. 

Viewing the entire dramatic speech of a composition as a conversa- 
tional form, interesting comparison may be made between the epic, 
drama, and novel. Number of 

single speeches 

Beowulf ........ 45 

Paradise Lost 175 

Master and Man 350 

Silas Marner 530 

The Tempest 650 

19. Concerted Speech. — By concerted speech is meant 
the utterance of the same words by several speakers at 
once. In the novel, simultaneous utterance of different 
words must of course be represented in sequence. In set 
form, this detail is far more characteristic of the drama 
than the novel, and is possibly a relic of the classical 
chorus. 

It occurs scores of times in Shakespeare, notably in Coriolanus, and 
its unnatural use is one of the minor blemishes of Browning's dramatic 
technic. It is, however, occasionally found in early fiction, probably in 
direct imitation of the drama. In less formal manner it is found in 
most novels ; for example, in Ivanhoe, Chapters XI, XIII, XXXIII, 
XLIV, and in the Last of the Mohicans, Chapter XXIX. 



20 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

20. Documentary Form in General. — Perhaps the most 
notable general effect of document is to increase verisimili- 
tude. The novel itself being an actual document, possibly 
the imagination more readily accepts fictitious document 
than fictitious dialogue. Documentary form is found in 
the earliest novels, — the Greek romances, — but has in- 
creased use, with special force and naturalness, since the 
invention of printing. As a fragment it may appear in 
very various forms — letter, newspaper extract, inscription, 
legal document, map, musical score, etc., etc. The most 
important examples of sustained documentary form are the 
epistolary novel, the diary novel, and the imaginary manu- 
script. 

Each of these types has some conventional details of structure, as for 
example the illegible or missing portions of the imaginary manuscript ; 
the forged or missent letter, etc. In all of them the introduction of 
formal dialogue is a convention which the reader accepts on faith ; and 
in general, the documentary illusion is rarely continuous. 

In English fiction, the imaginary manuscript has special place in 
the latter part of the eighteenth century. See Walpole's Castle of 
Otranto, Beckford's Vathek, Clara Reeve's Old English Baron, Mrs. 
Radcliffe's Sicilian Romance and The Italian, etc. Scott is rather 
fond of it. 

21. Epistolary Form. — The significant origin of the 
11 novel of letters " is usually traced to Samuel Richardson, 
though there was abundant literary use of epistolary form, 
in fiction and out of it, before Pamela. 1 Richardson him- 
self was quite conscious of the peculiarities of his method 
(see his comparison of epistolary and narrative method 
in the preface to Clarissa, his explanations of the letter- 
writing passion of Pamela, etc.), and considerable criti- 
cal discussion of the epistolary form followed his novels 

1 See Jusserand, Roman Anglais, p. 49; and Cross, p. 23. 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE 21 

at once. Analysis of epistolary structure may follow the 
general method given for dialogic structure. The princi- 
pal structural points in outline are the number, length, 
and sequence of letters. The technical difficulties of the 
form are numerous. Neither Pamela nor Clarissa is ab- 
solutely epistolary in text, and Richardson gives lists of 
dramatis personae, with some characterization, arguments, 
etc., outside the text proper. An interesting example of 
the breakdown of epistolary form is found in Scott's 
Redgauntlet. 

The chief theoretical forms, often combined in the actual novel, may 
be formulated as follows : — 

I. Letters from A to B. (Compare the monologue.) 

2.] Correspondence between A and B. (Compare the duologue.) 

Examples are Dostoyevsky's Poor Folk, and Balzac's Letters of Two 

Brides. 

3. Letters from A to B, C, etc. (Epistolary monologue in a sense, 
but clearly quite different from the oral monologue.) 

4. Letters from B, C, etc., to A. 

5. Correspondence between A and B, A and C, etc. 

6. Real "group-correspondence," in which each member of the 
group exchanges letters with each of the others. 

The general epistolary structure may be partially represented by 
a graphic design. In Miss Burney's Evelina the scheme is as follows, 
A standing for Evelina, B for 
Mr. Villars, etc. ; the figures, 
for the number of letters sent 

Other examples of epistolary 
novels are : Goethe's Werther, 
Foscolo's Jacopo Ortis, Madame 
de Stael's Delphine, Valera's 
Pepita Jimenez. Novels " in a 
series of letters" are specially 
common in the English fiction of the latter half of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, owing mainly to the influence of Richardson. 




22 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

22. Syntax. — There is a more or less specialized syntax 
for descriptive, expository, narrative, argumentative, and 
lyrical expression. The novel is chiefly characterized by 
a complex combination of these variations, and specially 
by contrast between the dramatic and non-dramatic pas- 
sages, and differentiated syntax for individual characters 
and character groups. The non-dramatic syntax is partly 
determined by the type of fiction and the rhetorical nature 
of the passage, partly by the general influence of the 
period, the nationality and the individuality of the author. 
A few details are given here merely as examples of syn- 
tactical analysis. 

Variations of mood and tense are often significant. Direct inter- 
rogative and imperative to the reader may serve to enlist his sympathy, 
otherwise determine his point of view, or to increase the illusion of 
reality. The historical present is common in spirited narration, espe- 
cially in romance. A combination of perfect and present tenses is 
effective in this sentence from George Eliot's Janet's Repentance: 
" But Mr. Tryan has entered the room, and the strange light . . . 
makes," etc. The rare interrogative future easily becomes sensational. 
This sentence is found in Chapter XII of George Eliot's Mr. Gilfil's 
Love-story (emphasized by being made a paragraph) : " Will she 
crush it under her feet . . . till every trace of those false, cruel features 
is gone ? " There are several examples of imperative to a character in 
Dombey and Son. 

Somewhat characteristic of the novel are epithetical phrases or typi- 
cal names for characters, groups, and places : The Last of the Roman 
Tribunes, Dona Perfecta, The Weaver of Raveloe, Poor Silas, Pretty 
Nancy, The Mill on the Floss, Old Mortality, The Man of Feeling, 
The Female Quixote, The English Rogue. Here may be included the 
various names for the same character in disguise as in Amadis of Gaul, 
Sidney's Arcadia, Lodge's Rosalind. 

The syntactical qualities of irony, as in Jane Austen; 
of satire, as in Rabelais ; of serious imitation, as in Gogol's 
Taras Bulba ; of burlesque imitation, as in the pseudo-epic 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE 23 

style of The Battle of the Books, may all be analyzed into 
characteristic details. 

Figurative language depends to a considerable extent 
upon syntax. Expanded figures, especially the more im- 
aginative figures of personification, apostrophe, and the 
continuous figurative language of allegory and symbolism, 
are more characteristic of both short story and romance 
than of the realistic novel. The romance of chivalry and 
the heroic romance are characterized by extended figures. 
When occurring in picaresque fiction and its allies, the 
figurative language is usually burlesque in spirit. In Silas 
Marner, as a representative realistic story, the figures, 
whether those in the dramatic or non-dramatic passages, 
rarely extend beyond a single sentence, and are most com- 
monly compressed into a single clause or phrase. They 
are generally simple similes or metaphors. 

Other details are the dialogic connectives, noticed in Section 14; 
catalogues and lists of articles like the romances in Don Quixote, 
the games in Gargantua (Rabelais) ; the argumentative or expository 
1, 2, 3 order in Bunyan and Defoe. A repeated word or phrase is 
sometimes found to give somewhat the effect of a leit-motif, as in the 
repetitions of "black remnant," "bright living thing," "flame," and 
"vision" in Chapter XII of Silas Marner. 

The dramatic syntax varies with the dialogic, epistolary 
and other documentary form. In the historical novel, the 
syntax of special periods is important; in the novel of 
manners, that of social groups ; in the novel of character, 
the syntax of the individual and his changing mental states. 
The control of syntactical details in all these cases is more 
difficult, and in general more significant, than the mere 
selection of vocabulary. 

Scott's theory of the shaping of language in historical 
fiction is given in the dedicatory epistle of Ivanhoe and 



24 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

elsewhere. He combines the specialized language of a 
period and social class with language that " belongs to all 
ranks and all countries, ,, and to give the general effect of 
remoteness, even for bygone centuries, finds the language 
of a few generations past to be sufficient. Thackeray, in 
Esmond and The Virginians, represents the more modern, 
more realistic fidelity to the speech of a past period. 

Dialect, while specially characteristic of the nineteenth 
century, has considerable place in much earlier fiction. 
In the picaresque and satirical novel of the Renaissance 
we have abundant reproduction of the " cant " phrases of 
the thief, the lawyer, doctor, priest, etc. A famous ex- 
ample of an original introduction of the terms of a special 
craft is found in the seaman's language of Smollett. 

Simple examples of the use of syntax to individualize characters 
are found in the third person plural with which Dolly Winthrop refers 
to the Deity (Silas Marner) ; the parenthetical sentences of Bulwer's 
Squire Brandon (Paul Clifford), and in Dickens, who frequently uses 
the "gag" with the effect of caricature. George Meredith is a promi- 
nent example of a novelist (as Browning is of a dramatist) whose own 
personal syntactical habits overshadow the utterances of his characters. 1 

One may conveniently note here typographical variations for artistic 
effects. Italics are characteristic of sentimentalism, and are common 
in Richardson and his followers. They are used in early fiction to 
distinguish proper names. Bulwer is fond of italics, small capitals, 
dashes, and exclamation points. Sterne and other humorists use typo- 
graphical devices for comic effects. 

In the history of the English novel, the syntax of Eu- 
phuism has perhaps been given the most close analysis. 
A few examples of characteristic vocabulary and syntax 
of other well-marked historical types may be suggestive. 

1 For examples of study of the syntactical peculiarities of individual novel- 
ists, see Brunetiere on Bourget (Roman Naturaliste), Cross on Stevenson, 
and Professor F. N. Scott's editorial introduction to Rasselas. 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE 2$ 

1 . Heroic Romance. Its formal phrasing is shown by these chance 
selections from Boyle's Parthenissa : " unintermitted obligations " ; 
"passionate conjurations of a meritorious servant"; "accessional 
force in so ambitioned a victory." Its complicated sentence structure 
may be indicated by the fact that Parthenissa contains sentences of 
over two hundred and fifty words. 

2. Ossianic figure and Gothic phrasing may be exemplified from 
James White's Earl Strongbow (1789): "Like the thunder when it 
smites the stupendous head of Snowdon, or roars amidst the cliffs and 
woody pinnacles of Plinlimmon " ; "A range of reverend towers . . . 
enveloped in ivy"; " It was a mansion sacred to silence and repose"; 
" worm-eaten timbers and rusty hinges " ; " dim Gothic window." 

3. The "sentimental school" of the later eighteenth century. 
From Brooke's Juliet Grenville ; or, the History of the Human Heart : 
"drowned in tears," "brimming tears" ;" flood of tears"; "tears of 
grateful sensibility" (this same phrase occurs in Catherine Parry's 
Eden Vale ; compare Morley's introduction to the Man of Feeling, 
Cass ell's National Library) ; " alarming transports " ; " transport of 
tender endearment " ; " paradisiacal delirium of infantile deliciousness." 
Compare Section 5. 

23. Vocabulary. — So far as the novelist creates words, 
or selects or modifies them for definite artistic purpose, 
they may be considered structural elements. Considered 
as narrative, the novel employs the power of words to 
accelerate, retard, produce suspense, surprise, climax, 
etc. ; as description, it has been prominent in the selection 
and determination of a specialized vocabulary for interiors, 
landscapes, physiognomy, the sensations and emotions of 
the individual, and the mental states of society. As a 
general type, it is characterized by range and variety of 
vocabulary ; contrast of dramatic and non-dramatic words ; 
combination and differentiation of the vocabularies of 
individuals and social groups. 

Creative vocabulary has been a special feature of the 
voyage imaginaire and of allegory. There are abundant 



26 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

examples in Campanella's City of the Sun, Gulliver, 
Paltock's Peter Wilkins, Pilgrim's Progress, etc. Dialectic 
vocabulary has been prominent in picaresque fiction, satire, 
and the novel of manners. Glossarial explanation, not 
unknown in Renaissance fiction, expands till for the Waver- 
ley Novels a glossary of some two thousand words is neces- 
sary. In general, the novelist has been a radical in the 
use of words — an iconoclast and a neologist. The aesthetic 
connotation of many such words as Gothic, sensibility, 
novel, romance, romantic, picturesque, picaresque, hero, soul, 
etc., has been largely determined by the usage of the 
novel. 

The mere names in a novel are often suggestive of the general type 
of the fiction. Compare the names of the characters of White's Earl 
Strongbow (Gothic historical romance), "Richard Fitzwalter," "Sir 
Reginald Fitzalan," " O'Carrol of Uriel," etc. ; of Boyle's Parthenissa 
{heroic romance), " Artabanes," "Izadora," " Callimachus," etc.; of 
Ingelo's Bentivolio and Urania {didactic allegory), "Alethion and 
Agape," u Theosebes and Urania," " Panaretes and Irene," with those 
of a picaresque novel, a modern novel of manners, etc. 

A study of special value and wide scope is suggested 
by the general theory of Stoddard's Evolution of the 
English Novel — the development of interest from the 
physical to the spiritual. The modern novel shows even 
in its vocabulary a richer aesthetic result in the exploration 
and combination of these two interests than any other form 
of prose literature. One may profitably analyze the vocab- 
ulary of form, color, movement (the power of visualization 
is often mentioned as a chief essential of the great fiction- 
ist), sound, touch, of vague inner sensation, as in swoon, 
dream, and delirium ; comparing it with the vocabulary of 
emotion, thought, and volition. In both cases the develop- 
ment of the exact, concrete word has been remarkable. 



EXTERNAL STRUCTURE 27 

24. Phonology. — Such structural details as alliteration, 
assonance, melody, pitch, time, etc., may be included under 
this term. Rhythm has been briefly noticed in Section 12. 
Phonetic effect for its own sake is not characteristic of the 
novel, as it is, to some extent, of the romance and certain 
types of short story. When the sound-value is emphasized, 
the values of characterization, action, setting, and thought 
are liable to become dim. But as a means to a less purely 
aesthetic end, the novelist explores every power of phonetic 
combination. In narration the clash of consonants or the 
swiftness of vowel sequences are important agencies; in 
description onomatopoetic effects may be introduced, or 
general impressions of beauty, ugliness, simplicity, or com- 
plexity emphasized by an appropriate arrangement of 
sounds. 

It is in dramatic characterization, perhaps, that the most 
significant or characteristic use of phonetic resources is 
found in the novel. One has only to recall the wide 
variations in the reading aloud of the same dramatic 
passage by different persons to realize the importance of 
this point. Alliteration, consonantal friction, etc., may be 
important indications of the mental condition of a speaker, 
especially in highly emotional states. 

Compare the degrees and manner in which the novelist determines 
the details of utterance in these passages from Chapter XIV of George 
Eliot's Janet's Repentance : — 

1. Ui Janet ! ' The loud jarring voice," etc. 2. " 6 Perhaps he would 
kill her.'" 3. "'I'll cool your hot spirit for you. I'll teach you to 
brave me.' " 4. " ' Let him. Life was as hideous as death.' " 



CHAPTER II 
CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 

25. Significance of Consecutive Structure. — A novel 
may be simply and conveniently considered as a series of 
parts, each with its own identity, value, and relation to the 
whole series. The chief significance of this consecutive 
structure is threefold : it gives, in the main, the order in 
which the novelist composed, though the original concep- 
tion may be found in the catastrophe, and there are often 
other variations ; it is the natural order in which the reader 
becomes acquainted with the novel ; and it is a very impor- 
tant aesthetic aspect of the work itself, especially as a nar- 
rative. As a sequence of divisions shown to the eye, the 
series is in a sense spatial ; and, though much more definite, 
if a building is considered as a whole, may be compared 
with architectural series. As a sequence of sounds, it is 
essentially temporal; and, though in many respects less 
definite, may be compared with musical series. These two 
aspects are exactly those which have been examined under 
" external structure " ; but a novel also presents a series of 
images, emotions, and thoughts, belonging to what may be 
called, for contrast, the " internal structure." 

Except in the scientific and practical sense in which we 
grasp several elements at once, every detail of sound, 
imagery, and thought in the entire novel comes to us at 
some definite point in the series. Ordinarily one does not 
attempt to " realize " the minute details of either sound or 
meaning ; though for special purposes a passage may be 

28 



CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 29 

examined syllable by syllable. It is well to acquire the 
power to outline the entire structure in a well-proportioned 
manner, with any given scale — to review the same novel, 
for example, in ten minutes or two hours. Thorough ex- 
amination of the structure consecutively gives, of course, 
every point in every topic of study based on the actual 
text of the novel ; but it is often convenient to have some 
special topic in mind, such as characters, settings, or sub- 
ject-matter. 

26. Sequence. — In any series we may notice the mere 
sequence, as in the numerical series 1, 2, 3, etc.; or the 
deeper relative functions of the members of the series, as, 
that 2 is to 4 as 4 is to 8, etc. In the study of a novel, 
these two interests are certainly not entirely distinct ; but 
for purposes of analysis they may be noticed separately, 
to some extent. 

A novel may be considered as a series of masses com- 
posed of points. These two terms do not need absolute 
definition, if their relative values are kept in mind. When 
a considerable number of points referred to the same inter- 
est or "topic" are grouped together, the rhetorical term 
in mass may be used; when points are scattered, the 
correlative term, in solution. Novels and novelists differ 
greatly in their use of these two methods, but in general 
it may be said : most of the chief matters of interest are 
found to some extent both in mass and in solution ; the 
most important, as characterization, dialogue, action, tend 
to be treated in mass; the less important, as figures of 
speech, generalization, asides to the reader, etc., in solution. 
The " points " of any one interest taken consecutively 
throughout the composition or a portion of it may be 
called a line. 



30 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

An analysis of paragraphs i and 7 of Chapter II, Silas Marner, not- 
ing some principal points of interest, without special attention to any 
one interest, may serve as an example. 

Paragraph i. 

Plot. Generalized situation, social and psychological, of hero. 
Settings. Place — contrast of new and old ; time — detail of morning. 
Characterization. Generalization of hero as a type. 
Subject-matter. Exile, memory, religious and ecclesiastical life. 
Comparative Rhetoric. Essay and lyrical qualities. 
Genetic Criticism. Compare treatment of religious life in Scenes of 
Clerical Life and Adam Bede. 

Paragraph 7. 

Dramatic Form. " We-ioxm " ; quotation of popular opinion. 
Plot. Situation-movement. Foreshadowing of the robbery. 
Settings. Place — details of cottage ; time — night. 
Characterization. Hero ; Raveloe rustics. 
Subject-matter. Formation of habit. 

27. The Principal Masses. — Masses may be classified or 
arranged according to their form and function somewhat 
as follows : 1. Those determined by external structure 
(already noticed in Chapter I). The chapter, or in closer 
analysis, the paragraph, are the most convenient units for 
the examination of a novel from any point of view. The 
sequence of dramatic and non-dramatic form is of large 
significance. 2. Like any other literary composition, the 
novel should show a more or less distinct "beginning, 
middle, and end." 3. Rhetorical form determines masses 
of description, narration, lyricism, etc. 4. v As fiction, the 
novel may show masses of primary and secondary illu- 
sion, and some masses in which the illusion is dropped. 
5. What may be called by distinction " novelistic function " 
determines masses of characterization, setting, generaliza- 
tion, etc. 6. The specifically narrative masses include 
movements, — episodes, events, incidents, scenes, — and 



CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 3 1 

situations. 7. Some masses may be distinct units of 
subject-matter. 

28. Sequence of Dramatic and Non-dramatic Masses. — 

For the typical novel the most important sequence of these 
forms is alternation of dialogic and non-dialogic masses. 
Its importance has been already suggested (Section 13), 
and the analysis may be made at that point in the study if 
desired. From its very nature, dialogue is usually found 
distinctly in mass; and in a well-constructed novel it is 
fairly evenly distributed. The greatest practical difficul- 
ties of the analysis are the distinction between primary 
and secondary dramatic form (see Sections 3 and 13), espe- 
cially in the epistolary novel ; and the frequent intricate 
mixture of dramatic and non-dramatic form. 

Some interesting points appear in this somewhat rough outline of 
the comparatively simple structure of Silas Marner. The numbers are 
for lines. 

1. Non-dramatic form (semi-dramatic, 40), 325; 2. Mixed form, 
70; 3. Non-dramatic (semi-dramatic ', 20, 30), 425; 4. Mainly duo- 
logue, 250; 5. Mainly non-dramatic, 600 ; 6. Mainly conversation, 
600; 7. Non-dramatic, 75 ; 8. Dramatic, 50; 9. Non-dramatic, 100; 
10. Mainly duologue, 200 ; 11. Non-dramatic, 150; 12. Mainly dra- 
matic, 125 ; 13. Non-dramatic (some semi-dramatic), 275 ; 14. Mainly 
dramatic, 700; 15. Mixed, mainly non-dramatic (Conclusion), 100. 

In a novel of letters, the epistolary sequence and the 
dialogic may be analyzed separately, or in combination. 
Omitting a few details, the epistolary sequence of Evelina 
is as follows : — 

(A = Evelina ; B = Mr. Villars ; C = Lady Howard ; D - Miss Mir- 
van ; E= Sir John Belmont. The numbers are for letters.) 

1. Exchange, B and C, 7 ; 2. A to B (3, B to A), 19; 3. Mixed 
exchange, A, B, C, D, E, 15 ; 4. A to B (2, B to A), 15 ; 5. A to D, 
5 ; 6. A to B (3, B to A), 22. 



32 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

29. Beginning, Middle, and End. — In scarcely any anal- 
ysis in this chapter will more differences of opinion arise 
than just at this point. Even when the author marks an 
" introduction " or " introductory chapter," and a " conclu- 
sion/' or " concluding chapter," these are not always satis- 
factory divisions. Prologues, dramatic prefaces, epilogues, 
must also be considered (see Section 11). Ordinarily 
the first chapter or a small group of chapters may be con- 
sidered as the beginning; the last chapter, or last few 
chapters, as the end. The beginning usually includes 
definite masses of initial setting, characterization, situation, 
and action. Foreshortened narrative giving a summary 
of the preceding part of the story is specially common. 
There may be distinct introduction or foreshadowing of 
theme. Frequently there are masses of initial motivation ; 
of dialogue or specific incident followed by more general 
exposition or narrative, or vice versa. The "end" of a 
novel includes the catastrophe of the plot; frequently a 
presentation of the chief characters in a situation giving 
the effect of permanence and finality. In some novels 
there is considerable suggestion of future "movement." 
If there is an epilogue, a notable interval of time often 
precedes it. 

In Silas Marner, study the relative values, as a "beginning," of 
Chapter I, Chapters I and II, and these with the first three paragraphs 
of Chapter III added ; in Pride and Prejudice, Chapter I and Chapters 
I to III. 

In the beginning of a novel there are two points of 
special importance : the introduction of the composition, 
at which point we leave life for literature, and the intro- 
duction of the illusion, at which point we leave actuality 
for fiction. These two points may of course coincide, but 
this is by no means an invariable rule. The entrance to 



CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 33 

the illusion may be abrupt or by gradual transition. If 
there are distinct primary and secondary illusions, as in 
the imaginary manuscript type of fiction, the exact point 
of introduction to each may be noted. In the conclusion, 
the two corresponding points are to be examined. The 
novel is not so likely as the romance or the short story to 
begin or close with a distinct effect, producing an impres- 
sion which dominates the entire work. 1 

Examples of Initial Points before Complete Illusion. 
Generalization: Anna Karenina; Pride and Prejudice. Place Setting 
(so far as we know entirely or largely real) : Pere Goriot ; Eugenie 
Grandet ; House of the Seven Gables ; I Promessi Sposi. Place and 
Time Settings : La Debacle ; Silas Marner. 

Initial Points of Illusion. For the imaginary manuscript, see 
Section 20. General situation, characterization, or early history of hero 
or heroine : Robinson Crusoe ; Don Quixote ; Vathek ; Soil und Haben. 
Secondary Characters : Frankenstein ; Tom Jones ; Pendennis ; Sense 
and Sensibility. Specific Incident : Pendennis (slightly generalized) ; 
Dona Perfecta ; Wilhelm Meister ; Ivanhoe ; (the last three with quali- 
ties of "scene"). 

Concluding Points. Closing with point distinctly in the illusion. 
(For conclusion with the title, see Section 5.) Return to imaginary 
manuscript : Scott's Tales of My Landlord. Specific Situation : Robin- 
son Crusoe ; Soil und Haben ; I Promessi Sposi ; Anna Karenina ; Silas 
Marner (dialogic point) ; Scarlet Letter (impressionistic effect) ; Ivanhoe. 
Closing with point not entirely in the illusion. Pepita Jimenez {motto 
evidently selected by author in propria persona) ; Don Quixote {pur- 
pose of work) . 

30. Movement and Situation. — A mass of event, large 
or small, may be considered a movement, though the term 
is somewhat more applicable to the larger masses. Move- 
ments in the direct line of general plot-development may 

1 Poe writes of the " preconceived effect " of the entire composition : " If 
his very initial sentence tend not to the outbringing of this effect, then [the 
writer] has failed in his first step." (" Hawthorne's * Tales.' ") 



34 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

be called "centripetal"; others, "centrifugal/' In a gen- 
eral way, the sentence or paragraph is the standard unit 
of incident; the chapter, of event and scene ; chapter 
groups, of episode. 

A situation, in a technical sense, is a summary of impor- 
tant circumstances at any stage of the plot, though items 
of situation may be given in solution. A situation is of 
course implied at every stage, which the reader may work 
out for himself if the novelist does not state it. In general, 
a novel is an alternation of movements and situations ; the 
sense of spirited progress depending on the predominance 
of the former ; the sense of reflective leisure, philosophical 
breadth, largely on the predominance of the latter. 

31. Event and Incident. — By event is here meant a 
unified mass of action of some scope and distinct signifi- 
cance in the plot, composed of distinct minor units of 
action — the incidents. Occasionally important incidents 
are found isolated. 

Every event, in the complete meaning of the term, has 
a very marked identity, in sequence of incidents, and espe- 
cially in time and place settings. It is readily distinguished 
from all other events in the same novel or other novels ; 
but realism tends more than romance to give highly indi- 
vidualized details of incident and setting. Important events 
are likely to have definite introduction and conclusion and 
a definite time setting; to be preceded and followed by 
a time interval, and to be given specific motivation. In 
the sequence of incidents, however, an event may be so 
typical, whether this be intended by the author or not, as 
to lose in large part its individual quality. 

The single combat of knights in the romance of chivalry, for example, 
frequently has about this sequence of incidents : the knights perceive 



CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 35 

one another, a challenge is given, the shock with spears and unhorsing, 
the attack with swords, etc. Compare this with the archery contest in 
Chapter XIII of Ivanhoe, an event which in outline is still somewhat 
typical, but has detail enough to individualize it thoroughly : — 

Preparation. Announcement, selection of archers, inspection, etc. 
First Target. Preparation, casting of lots, the shooting, dialogue of 
John and Robin Hood. Second Target. Change of target, Hubert's 
shot — aim, shot, flight, — Robin Hood's shot, dialogue of Hubert and 
John, Hubert's successful shot, dialogue, Robin's shot. The Wand. 
Preparation, dialogue, the shot. Finale. Congratulations, dispersion of 
crowd. 

This event is an excellent example in miniature of dramatic line, and 
of many details of narrative form. 

Events or incidents may also be generalized, though 
they are in that case usually given mainly in outline, for 
obvious reasons. The novelist makes liberal use of gen- 
eralized events to give the impression of solidity, of accumu- 
lation of happenings, in little space. Such passages are 
often introduced by formulas like " he was in the habit of," 
" every Sunday afternoon," etc. In the next to the last 
paragraph of Chapter II, Silas Marner, the generalized 
incident, " But at night," etc., offers striking contrast with 
the unique "little incident " of the preceding paragraph. 

An incident which, as given, cannot be analyzed, may be 
called an ultimate point of incident. Modern realism is 
inclined to give these points in more detail than the ordi- 
nary consciousness would note — to make them approach 
the elements of physical, physiological, and psychological 
reality. In this very manner, however, it may destroy the 
impression of reality. A more effective realism may be that 
which coincides as nearly as possible with the degree of 
detail the average, or at least the non-scientific, conscious- 
ness would note from a given point of view. Of this kind 
of realism the passage from Ivanhoe noticed above is a 



36 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

fairly good example. If Scott had attempted to note every 
muscular change in Robin Hood as he shot, he would have 
been more realistic in one sense, but the effect of reality 
would probably have been blurred. 

Events may be classified in many ways. One of special 
significance, and of special value in preparation for study of 
subject-matter, is that which distinguishes personal experi- 
ences, domestic, social, professional, natural, supernatural 
events, etc. Important results depend on the number, 
distribution, type, and treatment of events. External events 
and incidents as such are of greatest value in the novel of 
action : in the novel of character they may sink to a rela- 
tively unimportant position. 

32. The Scene. — A scene may be considered a special- 
ized treatment of an event, and between the two no exact 
line need be drawn. Analogy with the drama suggests 
that essential unity of dramatis personae, unity and con- 
tinuity of time, elaboration and unity of circumstantial 
and place settings, and predominance of dialogue are char- 
acteristic of a completely developed scene. Though either 
scene or event may be composed of a soliloquy, with its 
objective environment, the terms apply with more force to 
masses in which there is obvious and even somewhat com- 
plicated external activity. Some critics, chiefly those who 
emphasize its descriptive quality, consider the novel as 
essentially a series of scenes. While this conception often 
gives a satisfactory analysis, there are many novels in 
which fully developed scenes are found only at consider- 
able intervals. 

In Silas Marner, taking the chapter as a unit, the best examples of 
developed scenes are in Chapters V, VI, VII, IX, XVIII, XIX, and XX. 
There are many other minor or fragmentary scenes ; but as a whole, 



CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 37 

Silas Marner can hardly be considered as composed of a series of 
scenes, even allowing for the necessary transitions. It does not open 
with a scene, as the romances of Scott frequently do, or close with a 
very distinct one. 

33. Episode. — This term may be defined as a unified 
mass composed of a series of events or scenes, with their 
accompanying situations. In a novel of clear structure 
the episodes are well-relieved. They may be centripetal or 
centrifugal (episode in a common secondary sense); pro- 
gressive or reverting ; may belong to a single action or the 
whole plot, etc. Episode, being a larger mass, is not likely 
to be so closely unified in time, place, or characters as a 
scene, but it may have its own identity in each of these and 
other particulars. 

Incident, event, and episode are terms that may be 
taken relatively, in reference to the perspective of the 
whole composition. In a general history of the United 
States, the Civil War may be an episode, the battle of 
Gettysburg an event, Pickett's charge an incident, the 
death of a single general an ultimate point of incident. 
But in the analysis of a short story devoted entirely to 
Pickett's charge, the movement of the army across the 
plain might be an episode, the death of a single soldier 
an event, the dropping of his rifle an incident, and " the 
bayonet struck first" an ultimate point. 

OUTLINE OF THE EPISODES IN SILAS MARNER 

Episode I. Life of Silas Marner before the robbery. Chapters I 
and II. As a whole, in reference to the rest of the narrative, and as 
treated, a situation. 

1. At Lantern Yard. I. A movement without well-developed scene. 

2. At Raveloe. II. In the main a situation, with somewhat scat- 
tered incidents, rather than event or scene. 



38 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Episode II. The Robbery. Chapters III to X. As a whole a dis- 
tinct movement. 

i. III-IV. Preparatory movement in two events. 

2. V. Climax of episode. Incident expanded into event. 

3. VI to IX. " Fall " of the episodic line. Chapter VI a centrifu- 
gal event with scene quality. 

4. X. Transitional to next episode, with somewhat of situation 
quality. 

Episode III. The Coming of Eppie. Chapters XI to XV. Move- 
ment passing into situation. 

1. XI and XII. Preparatory. XI somewhat centrifugal, and with 
scene quality ; XII much more distinctly a forward movement. 

2. XIII. Climax of episode and of the Godfrey Cass action. 

3. XIV and XV. " Fall " of the episode ; but with situation quality. 

Episode IV. Final relations of Marner, Eppie, and the Casses. 
Chapter XVI to Conclusion. Mixed qualities of movement and 
situation. 

1. XVI to XVIII. Preparatory movement. 

2. XIX. Climax of episode. (Real catastrophe of plot.) 

3. XX. "Fall" of episode. 

4. XXI. Somewhat centrifugal, so far as this single episode is con- 
cerned. Event. 

5. Conclusion. Catastrophic event, resolving into situation at the 
end. 

34. Lines of Interest. — " Thread of interest " is the more 
common phrase, but it is frequently used in reference to the 
narrative interest alone. The consecutive points of charac- 
terization, subject-matter, and all other important " topics " 
may also be traced as more or less distinct lines. Some 
of these perhaps need no further comment than is sug- 
gested by the analysis of masses and points in this chapter ; 
the important lines of single action are considered in the 
next chapter. It is convenient to notice here, partly as a 
representative analysis, partly on account of its special 
significance in the novel, the " line of emotion." 



CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 39 

35. The Line of Emotion. — In examining this, one may 
have the author, characters, or reader specially in mind. 
The fact that the author presents a character moved by 
fear does not necessarily mean that the author or the reader 
experiences that emotion. Nor does a mere discussion of 
emotion, whether by the author or a character, such as one 
should notice in the study of subject-matter, belong to the 
line of emotion. For general purposes, this is best traced 
by observation of the diction showing emotion in the charac- 
ters or author or calculated to produce it in the reader. 
The intensity as well as kind of emotion may be noted. 
Critics who emphasize the emotional element as charac- 
teristic of the novel, have in mind an unusual degree of 
emotional stress. The line of intensity may be conceived 
as related to an imaginary base-line of normal unstressed 
emotion. 

Practise in minute analysis of emotional sequence is best 
found in the lyric or short story of emotional type, or in 
selected passages of a novel. The line of intensity in 
Silas Marner, Chapter XIII, in which strong feeling is 
specially predominant, may be diagrammed somewhat as 
follows. The references to the text also note the kind of 
emotion, to some extent. 



_5_-- 



SILAS ^ 

GODFRI 



1 HOR-MAL EMOTION 



1. If we drew separate lines for Godfrey and Silas, that for Silas would 
perhaps be somewhat higher. 2. Company in general: "Easy jol- 
lity," " enjoyment." 3. "Admired," "very pleasant." 4. "Startling," 
"trembling," "throb," "terror." 5. " Half-breathlessly." 6. Ladies 



40 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

in general: "Curious." 7. Eppie: u Half-alarmed." 8. "Terrible 
effort." 9. "Strong sudden impulse." 10. Mrs. Kimble: "Mild 
surprise." 11. Doctor Kimble: "Some bitterness." 12. Eppie: 
" Began to cry." 13. " Felt the cry." 14. Dolly Winthrop :" Much 
concerned," "compassion." 15. " Suspense," " passionate desire and 
dread," " sense of duty," "hope of freedom." 16. "Is she dead?" 
"What sort of woman is she?" 17. Eppie :" Soothed." 18. "Con- 
flict of regret and joy," etc. 19. " Sharply." 20. " Sense of relief and 
gladness." 21. Author, and semi-quotation of Godfrey. 

This analysis might be made more detailed or more simple ; but it 
may serve to indicate a method. The centre of emotional interest is 
clearly in Godfrey. " Clash of emotion " is to some extent represented 
in the relations of Godfrey and Silas ; more distinctly in the mind of 
Godfrey himself. The emotional pitch of the chapter as a whole is 
lowered by the comparatively mild beginning and conclusion, and by 
the presence and speech of characters not in very tense emotional 
state. 

36. Points. — A pointy in a detailed analysis, will not 
generally occupy more than a sentence, sometimes only 
a phrase or word. Points may be noted with reference to 
every phase of the structure and substance of the novel. 
Among the more important points that may be called spe- 
cifically structural are : changes of tense, use of / or we 
form; asides to the reader; generalizations and typifica- 
tions ; details of action, settings, characterization and moti- 
vation ; details to increase illusion ; expectation (preparation, 
foreshadowing), reminiscence, repetition ; sudden relief of 
suspense ; surprise, etc. Points of subject-matter include 
any brief statement of theme or sub-theme, or any detail of 
the topics studied in Chapter VII. One may also notice 
points of " genetic criticism " — signs of revision or fatigue, 
etc. ; of " dynamic criticism " — influence of another novel, 
of nationality, etc. ; and of " kinetic criticism " — details 
which we like or dislike, which appear improbable, which 
might offend a certain class of readers, etc. 



CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 41 

Points having peculiar distinctness or force, especially 
from the reader's point of view, may be called effects} 
A novel dominated by startling single effects tends to 
become sensational; a novel without any such effects is 
rare, and can hardly resemble actual life. The short story 
is more likely than the novel to affect us as composed of 
brilliant single points ; the mass quality being sometimes so 
obscured that we can scarcely see the wood for the trees. 

As an example of analysis some of the principal points 
in Chapter XII of Silas Marner may be noted. This chap- 
ter contains many notable effects, including "touches of 
fantasy," which give it something of the quality of a ro- 
mantic short story. It is entirely in non-dramatic form, 
except for the few details noted first. The numbers refer 
to the paragraphs. 

Dramatic Form, Semi-quotation of Molly and Marner; Eppie's 
u Mammy." 

Syntax. Repetition of " longing " ; " demon " ; " black remnant " ; 
" pleaded"; "moment"; "bright living thing"; "gleam"; "tod- 
dled"; "flame"; "vision"; "Mammy," etc. 

Interrogative; (6) and (8). "To close it — but he did not close it." 
Personification of "demon"; "white-winged messengers." Psycho- 
logical phrases — e.g., " bewilderment of waking"; "supreme imme- 
diate longing," — characteristic of author. 

Appeal in " pretty stagger " ; " primary mystery," etc. 

Vocabulary. Effects of mystery gained by " glimmer " ; " blurred " ; 
" amazement " ; " marvel " ; " wonderment " ; " awe," etc. ; of fore- 
shadowing in "listening"; "gazing"; "yearning"; "unrest," etc. 
" Furze " and " catalepsy " are effects for many readers. Concreteness 
of " toddled " ; " dangling " ; " gurgling," etc. 

Phonology. Alliteration and vowel melody in " old quiverings . . . 
over his life." Rapid syllabification, aiding the sense, in " an inexplic- 
able" to end of sentence. Cadences at close of chapter. 

1 See the analysis of effects in Moulton's Shakespeare as a Dramatic 
Artist. 



42 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Dramatic Irony* " How and when had the child come in ? " 

Point of View, Implied in calling Mrs. Cass, "Molly"; Marner, 
" Silas." Child's point of view. 

Foreshadowing, Very many points. "Freezing wind"; "She 
walked always," etc.; (4) as a whole; and (8). 

Preparation, "As if there was gold" is a counterpoint of Chapter 
XIV, paragraphs 14 and 33, etc. 

Reminiscence, " Her husband would be smiling " (of preceding chap- 
ter) ; "had its father's hair; " — Godfrey has previously been mentioned 
as a blond. "Opium" is reminiscent of Chapter III, paragraph 23. 

Surprise, Abrupt introduction of Eppie (1), made more emphatic 
by position at end of paragraph, after matter important and surprising 
in itself; "suddenly" (5) ; " but he did not see the child " (6). 

Suspense, The chapter abounds with effects. " She would go . . . 
and disclose herself" — momentary anticipation unfulfilled. Consecu- 
tive suspense and relief in " In another moment ... it was an empty 
phial." The last clause comes as near being sensational as any in the 
entire novel. Suspense in (8) falls into distinct masses — stages, 
closed by relief, and marked by " instead of the hard coin," " his little 
sister," etc. The mass of suspense in (10) is relieved suddenly by last 
sentence. It does not depend on the reader's ignorance of facts, but 
on his uncertainty as to how the author will give a new turn to the fact 
already known, and on the ignorance of Silas. 

Contrast, Of this chapter with the last ; of the time setting — New 
Year's Eve — with the tragedy; of tragedy for Molly and blessing for 
Silas ; in special depression of Silas at the moment when his life is to 
receive new impulse. 

Special effects of pathos are found throughout — in vocabulary, syn- 
tax, point of view, etc. 

37. Mass in Momentum. — By momentum is meant the 
general effect of increasing value characteristic of any 
aesthetic series, but particularly distinct in narration. By 
a loose analogy with physical force, it may be analyzed 
into the two elements of " mass," considered as the accumu- 
lation of previous interest at any point; and "velocity," 
that is, the rapidity with which new interest is accumu- 
lating at this point. 



CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 43 

Mass may include all that we consciously or uncon- 
sciously retain for ourselves, but it is more clearly struc- 
tural when the novelist summarizes or otherwise recalls the 
previous interest. The reminiscences of Chapters XVI 
and XXI in Silas Marner give increased momentum to 
the new events introduced, as in real life it is often mem- 
ory that gives peculiar force to present experience. In 
the third part of Robinson Crusoe, the essay on " Soli- 
tude " has back of it the whole lonely experience of the 
hero on the island, which to some extent Defoe recalls. 
Individual memory is of special value in psychological 
characterization ; as in Tolstoi's Resurrection. 

Expectation is a convenient term for all suggestion of 
coming events. The most general expectation of a nar- 
rative is implied in the simple fact that it is to be read. 
Preparation may be used for more definite announcement ; 
anticipation for an introduction of details to be repeated 
at a later stage ; foreshadowing for vague, impressionistic 
prophecy of future events. Suspense is a general term to 
denote that the interest in any of these forms of expecta- 
tion is raised to especially high pitch. 

Among special ways of producing suspense are announcement of an 
important meeting of characters, and introduction of characters with 
concealed identity, particularly when the identity is concealed from the 
reader or the character himself. Concealed identity, in various forms, 
plays a considerable part in Sidney's Arcadia, as in many romances of 
chivalry and pastoral romances; in Les Mise'rables, Bulwer's Paul 
Clifford and Kenelm Chillingly. The technical treatment is prob- 
ably modelled after that of the drama; the "recognition" in catas- 
trophe, after the classical drama. An interesting example of double 
"recognition" — false and true — is found in Dolly Cowslip, in the 
catastrophe of Smollett's Sir Launcelot Greaves. 

38. The Rate of Movement. — The general rate of move- 
ment — the thematic "tempo " — may often be given with 



44 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

some definiteness for the novel as a whole, but a large part 
of its aesthetic value depends on changes within the composi- 
tion. If the novel is " allegro," so to speak, as a whole, it will 
require a " presto " movement to give much acceleration ; 
and an "andante" movement will, by comparison, be a 
retardation. It might be possible to select individual novels 
or passages as standards of the principal rates of move- 
ments suggested by the analysis of music. 

Momentum has not been defined as referring merely to 
the purely narrative interest, — a reader may perhaps be 
more concerned with the accumulation of philosophical 
ideas, etc., — but this is the most common and most natural 
application. Viewing a novel as a narrative, description, 
exposition, and often dialogue are retarding elements ; the 
highest degree of acceleration occurs in narrative passages 
characterized by rapid sequence of well-relieved incidents. 

Richardson's novels are famous examples of retardation ; Smollett's, 
as novels of adventure, are marked by notable acceleration. The eleven 
pages of Chapter XXI of Sir Launcelot Greaves include a marriage, 
father's rejection of a daughter, persecution of a debtor, imprison- 
ment, birth and death of a child, formation of the drunkard's habit, 
development of semi-insanity, social and prison history of a "gay young 
widow," bankruptcy and imprisonment of another character, and several 
other distinct incidents. (But in this passage there is little mass in the 
momentum, for Sir Launcelot is hardly the important character, and the 
others are entirely episodic.) There is nothing resembling this in 
Silas Marner. That novel as a whole might perhaps be considered an 
andante movement. Acceleration is specially noticeable in Chapters 
XIII, XVIII, and the latter part of Chapter I ; retardation in Chapters 
VI and XI. 

39. Climax and Foiling. — Foiling is represented by the 
formula, aA} in reference to any two consecutive items of 

1 For a conception of the term and its application, see Moulton's Shake- 
speare as a Dramatic Artist. 



CONSECUTIVE STRUCTURE 45 

interest; though, like climax, more generally referred, in 
the novel, to characters and events. Climax is represented 
by the formula aAA. In the relations of character, an ex- 
ample of foiling is found when character A is presented as 
good, B as better, or the reverse; in the relations of action, 
when a mysterious event is compared with a more myste- 
rious, etc. Logically, it requires three points and no more 
to make a climactic effect, and this triple form is common 
in fiction, especially romantic fiction. Compare the triple 
testing of chastity, the three caskets of the Merchant of 
Venice, and Bedivere with Excalibur in the Idylls of the 
King. 

Of course there are many degrees of deflniteness in foiling and cli- 
max. Special structural value is found only when the author is conscious 
of the effect, but the student may discover many examples for himself. 
In a certain way, Jem Rodney is a foil for Dunstan Cass, but it is doubt- 
ful if George Eliot thought of the two as so related. In Robinson 
Crusoe there is climax in the series of disasters to the hero in his early 
history ; in his gradual conquest of circumstances on the island, and 
in the later growth of the colony. Each of these series may be out- 
lined in distinct stages. A good example of romantic character foiling 
is found in the hero and the monster of Frankenstein — great isola- 
tion and suffering ; greater isolation and suffering. 

Climax of plot, as a definite technical term, is noticed in Section 51. 

40. Reciprocity. — Any two points or masses with defi- 
nite structural interchange of value, so to speak, espe- 
cially when the values are considered about equal, may 
be called reciprocal. The terms counterpoint, counter- 
mass y may also be used. Contrast is the most familiar 
and perhaps the most significant type of reciprocity. 
It is naturally most emphatic when the two points 
are adjacent, and when it passes into detailed antithesis. 
Victor Hugo often carries his fondness for sharp contrast, 
observable in every element of the novel, into the details 



46 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

of sentence and phrase. Contrast should not be limited to 
characters, though this is certainly one of its most impor- 
tant aspects in the novel. Contrast incorporated in the 
main theme of a novel is suggested by such titles as 
Master and Man, Cloister and Hearth, Sense and Sensi- 
bility. 1 Suspense and its " relief " are of course reciprocal. 
They are often somewhat massed at the beginning or climax 
of a novel, and at the catastrophe, respectively. 

A marked example of anticipation is found in Janet's Repentance, 
the closing paragraph of Chapter IX. This item of the narrative is 
elaborated in its proper place in the first paragraphs of Chapter XXVII, 
even with essential repetition of a few details — " her eyes were worn with 
grief and watching " ; " in quiet submissive sorrow," etc. What seems 
to be definite anticipation is not always fulfilled. When Godfrey Cass 
sees his dead wife in Marner's cottage, " he remembered that last look at 
his unhappy hated wife so well, that at the end of sixteen years every 
line in the worn face was present to him when he told the full story of 
this night." This is so definite that we may naturally expect a corre- 
sponding passage later, but there is no further mention of this terrible 
memory of Godfrey. 

41. Analysis of Simpler Narratives. — The novel is too 
long and complex to permit an exhaustive analysis of all 
the elements of narrative form. For practise in such 
analysis the short story is more satisfactory. For the 
examination of mere mechanism, perhaps nothing is better 
than that barren type in which narrative interest is re- 
duced to its lowest terms, — the genealogy. In the tenth 
chapter of Genesis, for example, it is easy to distin- 
guish the beginning, middle, and end ; the episodes ; the 
points of repetition, retardation, acceleration, etc. Most 
of the analyses of the present volume could be simply 
exemplified from Biblical narratives. 

1 Other phases of contrast are noticed in the chapter on General ^Esthetic 
Interest. 



CHAPTER III 
PLOT 1 

42. Meaning of Plot. — Four somewhat different con- 
ceptions of plot are explained in the glossary. The root 
idea of them all is that of design — of unity fashioned out 
of complexity of details. This root idea implies a certain 
subjectivity in all plot ; for design, though it may be given 
external form, is essentially a product of the mind. It 
follows that plot analysis is more or less flexible, depending 
on the particular way in which the artist and the critic 
see the relation of the details to a central plan. Even so 
simple a graphic design as this, ©, the imagination may 
choose to see primarily as a circle with an inscribed cross, 
the four quarters of a circle, etc. In more complicated 
designs it may require some time for an untrained eye to 
perceive the unity in a given way. This flexibility is very 
pronounced in the novelistic plot, because the details them- 
selves are invariably complicated and subjective. In a 
sense, the critic makes rather than merely discovers the 
plot. The closer the study, the more familiar any method 
of analysis, however, the more exact and uniform the 
results. 

The general conception of plot as unity of design is 
applicable to all the arts, and is noticed more at length in 

1 The general indebtedness of this chapter to Moulton's method of plot 
analysis, and to Freytag and his followers, may be acknowledged once for all. 
Many details will be apparent to any one acquainted with the two critics. 

47 



48 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

the chapter on General ^Esthetic Interest. The present 
chapter considers plot mainly in the first sense of the 
glossary, as a design of strictly narrative details. 

43. Necessity and Ideality of Narrative Plot. — In any 
well-constructed narration, one may affirm the necessity 
and ideality of plot. When Mr. Tuckerman writes of 
Morte d'Arthur, "of plot there is none," 1 if he is using 
the word in the sense just given, his statement is opposed 
by an analysis of the romance itself. Plot is necessary 
because of the inevitable tendency of the mind to unify 
any series of events it considers together ; it is ideal 
because the imagination, broadly interpreted, is the only 
mental faculty able to fashion this unity in a satisfactory 
manner. Though one may grant a certain objective unity 
in a series of natural events, as in the working of a 
machine or a process of crystallization, the narrative record 
of those events, unless a mere unmeaning jumble, is a 
product of imagination. The great unifying conception 
of evolution, even if all the facts were found in nature, is 
essentially imaginative, as science states it for our intel- 
lectual satisfaction and practical use. 

Especially in any series of social or individual human 
experiences, the reason demands and the imagination 
attempts the transformation of a chaos of details into a 
cosmos of significance, if not of beauty. Plot, in this 
restricted sense, is common to epic, drama, novel, history, 
and biography ; and the general method of analysis may 
be much the same for all. The student of the novel might 
profit by plot analysis of Carlyle's French Revolution, 
Hallam's Middle Ages, or Grant's Personal Memoirs. 

Most clearly is plot necessary and ideal in fictitious 
narrative. However real the main outline of events, or 

1 English Prose Fiction, p. 40. 



PLOT 49 

specific events, as in historical fiction ; however typical, 
as in the novel of manners ; the plot of every novel, as a 
fusion of details into unity, is a unique product of imagi- 
nation. The most commonplace and conventional novel 
ever written has at least this interest of distinct identity 
in imaginative process and result. The old-fashioned 
critical terms " invention " and " the fable " (see the glos- 
sary) emphasized this aspect of plot. The fact that 
plot is imaginative does not necessarily imply, however, 
that it is emotional or spontaneous. It is in the very 
process of conscious intellectual shaping of materials to 
an ideal result that some critics find the main dignity of 
plot. The novelist as well as the philosopher may call 
into action the " imaginative reason." Adverse criticism 
of plot rests largely upon a one-sided interpretation of 
its meaning. Zola's spirited attack has been abundantly 
answered, and particularly by the testimony of his own 
novels. 1 

44. Action and Narration. — Action is a general term 
which includes all the real or fictitious incidents of the 
plot. It applies more particularly to external events, with 
definite time and place settings; but in a wider sense to 
emotions and thoughts, even without definite settings, 
which belong to the unity of illusion. Most novels contain 
many passages, especially the generalizations and descrip- 
tions by the author, which lie outside the action proper. 
The action includes all the incidents supposed to happen, 
whether distinctly given or merely implied ; the narra- 
tion gives some of these fully, some briefly, and omits 
all record of others. The relation of action to narration 

1 For appreciation of plot, see, for example, Moulton's Shakespeare as 
a Dramatic Artist, and Santayana's Sense of Beauty ; for adverse criticism, 
see Zola's Experimental Novel. 



50 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

is in part analogous to that between the characters and 
characterization. 

The life of Napoleon, or the events of the American Civil War, 
considered as materials for the biographer and historian, are actions; 
the biography and the history are narrations. The action is clearly a 
larger and more complex whole than the narrative, to which it alone, 
in fiction or outside of fiction, gives reality and authority. This dis- 
tinction applies to many topics in Chapter II, as well as in the present 
chapter. There is, for example, a situation in the action, and a situation 
in the narration. In Silas Marner, the action-situation at the close of 
Chapter IV includes the important incident of Dunstan Cass' death; 
but this incident enters the narrated situation only towards the close of 
the novel. 

In the fluctuating relations of action and narration lie 
many of the problems of narrative technic. To imagine 
a story is one thing, to tell it another. The main relations 
may be called divergence (" foreshortening " when the nar- 
ration distinctly condenses the action, and divergence in 
sequence y as in the example just given), convergence, and 
coincidence. Parallelism, that is, uniform proportion be- 
tween action and narration, is practically impossible in a 
novel, and would at once destroy its artistic value. It is 
in the larger outlines of plot that divergence becomes most 
conspicuous and imperative. In details, the narration may 
approach the fulness of action, real or imagined, but from 
the scientific point of view there can never be actual 
coincidence. (Compare Section 31.) The process of selec- 
tion necessary to fashion an artistic narrative from an 
action has been emphasized in recent rhetorical study. 
Some critics find in imaginative selection the primary 
method and principle of narrative art ; and in a broader 
field, art in general has been defined as " the suppression 
of non-essentials." 



PLOT 51 

45. Story.— As a technical term, story may denote a 
larger whole of real action from which the plot is drawn. 
In clear form, story is rare except in historical fiction, but 
the plots of non-historical novels may always be viewed, 
by novelist or reader, as ideal episodes of a wider action 
historically real. The story of Ivanhoe is the history 
of the racial adjustment of Saxon and Celt in England ; 
of Quo Vadis, the history of the struggle of early 
Christianity with paganism. The plot of The Scarlet 
Letter may be interpreted as an ideal episode in the 
story of the redemption of the sinner through love, in 
which the lives of St. Paul, St. Augustine, and many other 
saints, are historical episodes. 

Various degrees of generalization by author or critic indicate proxi- 
mate, intermediate, and ultimate stories. The proximate story of 
Kingsley's Alton Locke is the Chartist movement, the wider story, 
the general struggle of the laboring classes ; the proximate story of 
Galdds' Dona Perfecta is the struggle of medieval ecclesiasticism 
with modernism in nineteenth century Spain, the wider story, the 
general history of the clash of religious authority with the liberated 
intellect. In the introduction of 183 1 to The Fortunes of Nigel, Scott 
suggests, by generalization, a far wider story than the history of the reign 
of James II : " The most picturesque period of history is that when 
the ancient rough and wild manners of a barbarous age are just becom- 
ing innovated upon, and contrasted, by the illumination of increased or 
revived learning, and the instructions of renewed or reformed religion." 

Unless there is a distinct and noteworthy narrative outline in the 
story itself, it is usually more satisfactory to consider it merely as 
background, or as general subject. 

46. Story and Plot. — When the story is distinctly con- 
ceived, it may have its own " dramatic line," with which 
the plot of the novel may coincide in beginning, climax, or 
catastrophe. The plot of The Plague Year is emphati- 
cally historical in that its beginning, rise, climax, fall, and 



52 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

catastrophe coincide with those of the actual movement 
of the pestilence. (Compare Cross, pp. 143, 145, and 
passim^) Such coincidence is by no means an invariable 
rule in historical fiction. Both the climax and the catastro- 
phe of Ivanhoe are in the main purely imaginary, though 
typically historical. Great historical events, like great his- 
torical characters, if introduced at all, may sink into the 
background of the novel. 

Several plots may of course be drawn from the same 
story. These may be quite independent episodes ; as 
Galdos' Dona Perfecta, Reade's Cloister and the Hearth, 
Ebers' Homo Sum, for example, which may all be viewed 
as episodes in the story of the conflict of ascetic Christian- 
ity with the secular nature of man. When several plots 
from the same story have a considerable number of com- 
mon characters or incidents, they constitute what is tech- 
nically a " cycle" ; of which famous examples in romance 
are the Arthurian and Charlemagne cycles of the Middle 
Ages. 

Story often undergoes considerable modification in details or in 
general interpretation before the novelist moulds his plot from it. The 
freedom of Scott in this respect is partly recorded in his introductory 
matter, and has been abundantly noticed. In details, he transforms a 
Catholic into a Protestant, and changes the chronological sequence in 
order to gain increased dramatic effect; in general interpretation, his 
emphasis upon contrast in certain specific periods is probably due as 
much to his own imagination as to actual historical conditions. 

47. The Plot Proper. — The plot proper of a novel is 
the design which unifies all the incidents of the narration, 
in their relation to one another, and to the action. Novel- 
istic plot may generally be analyzed with profit by two 
methods, somewhat different, but so closely related that 
neither has much value without the other. The first 



PLOT S3 

method considers plot as composed of single lines of 
interest, known in the action as " single actions," in the 
narration as "simple narratives." The second method 
subordinates these separate lines of interest to the general 
movement forward in chronological and causal series to a 
final goal — the catastrophe. 

48. The Single Action. — A single action is a series 
of events having a unity and significance of its own if 
detached from the plot in which it is found. We may 
imagine it alone — frequently as the material for a short 
story — or transferred to another novelistic plot, without 
loss of essential meaning ; just as we may detach single 
characters from the network in which they are found, 
without loss of identity. Kipling's phrase, "but that's 
another story," technically stated, means, " a single 
action too independent to be woven into the present 
plot." 

Flexibility of plot analysis (Section 42) is particularly 
apparent in the perception of single actions. Some of 
these actions are dim, others quite distinct. They may have 
primarily a mere chronological unity, or may have their 
individual dramatic line, dramatis personae, settings, theme, 
tone, etc. It is not necessary that they have an inde- 
pendent origin, or were conceived as distinct by the novel- 
ist, though these conditions of course emphasize their 
individuality. The single action should not be understood 
as primarily the history of a single character, though the 
two may sometimes be identical. Often it is rather the 
related history of two or more characters; sometimes a 
narrative movement in which the characters are merely 
the necessary agents of the action. The perception of 
single actions is often aided by a generalized statement 
of them. 



54 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

In Silas Marner one can readily conceive the moral histories of Silas 
and Godfrey Cass separately, without violence to the actual plot. In 
typical form, the two actions are about as follows : — 

A, a young rural aristocrat, contracts a degrading, clandestine mar- 
riage of passion. His wife dies, leaving a young child in the hands of 
people of the laboring class. A is too cowardly to take her himself, 
mainly on account of a woman of his own class, whom he loves and soon 
after marries. Later, when the child has developed into a young 
woman, he desires to adopt her, but she has become attached to her 
humble friends, and refuses to leave them. This, combined with the 
fact of their childlessness, is received by A and his wife as a just though 
painful punishment for his early folly and cowardice. This statement 
preserves the main outline of the story of Godfrey Cass, and leaves 
Silas Marner without even numerical identity. 

B, a sensitive laborer, suffers an injustice which isolates him from 
his own past and from his fellow-men. After years of loneliness, chance 
brings him a little waif child, and their mutual love softens his nature, 
reconciles him to his own life, and unites it again to that of his fellows, 
and to God. In this outline statement, Godfrey Cass, in his turn, 
becomes a dramatis persona merely implied. 

Of course this is not the actual plot of Silas Marner, but it is the 
two stories we might have had, and it throws light on the unifying 
process in the real plot. The history of Eppie cannot be well stated as 
an independent interest; she is necessary to both actions, and so 
becomes what Professor Moulton calls a " link personage." 

In Pride and Prejudice, it is impossible to make independent 
actions of the histories of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, without 
such violation of the actual plot as obscures rather than illuminates it. 

Theory as to the number of single actions in the typi- 
cal plot is not altogether lacking. Professor MacClintock x 
affirms that there is distinct tendency to fuse three actions 
together ; and practical analysis will show that this triple 
resolution is often satisfactory, though further resolution 
is always possible in a complex plot. As over-analysis 
results in more obscurity than no analysis at all, it seems 
best to avoid subtlety in the search for single actions. 

1 Unpublished manuscript. 



plot 55 

Single actions may be named or described according to 
their nature and structural value as tragic, comic ; adventure 
actions, love actions, supernatural actions, etc. ; episodic, 
persistent, thematic, main (principal), sub-actions, envelop- 
ing, motivating, etc. 

EXAMPLES OF ANALYSIS INTO SINGLE ACTIONS 

Pride and Prejudice. 
Enveloping Actions. 

i. Social life in England, in the upper middle classes. 

2. History of the Bennet family and their relatives. 
Main Actions. 

3. Love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. (Principal 

action.) 

4. Love story of Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley. 

5. Relations of Wickham to the Bennets and the Darcys. 
Sub-actions. 

6. Professional and domestic history of Mr. Collins. 

7. Relations of Colonel Fitzwilliam to Elizabeth Bennet. 

(Distinctly episodic.) 
Last of the Mohicans. 

1 . Enveloping Action. Relations of the French, English, Ameri- 

cans, and Indians. 

2. Main Action. Relations and experiences of Chingachgook, 

Hawkeye, Uncas, and Heyward. (The relation of the 
first two characters is an episodic action in reference to 
the Leather-Stocking series.) 
Sub-actions. 

3. Relations of Magua to the other Indians and the whites. 

4. Career of David Gamut. 

5. Love story of Heyward and the Munro sisters. 
Quo Vadis. 

Enveloping Actions. 

1. Struggle of early Christianity with Paganism (Greek, Roman, 

barbarian) . 

2. International relations of the Roman Empire. 

3. Events of the reign of Nero. 



56 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Main Actions. 

4. Love story of Vinicius and Lygia. (Principal action.) 

5. Love story of Petronius and Eunice. 
Sub-actions. 

6. Story of Chilo. 

7. Attachment of Ursus to Lygia. 

8. Rivalry of Petronius and Tigellinus. 

49. Sequence of Simple Narratives. — The divergence 
between action and narration is clearly seen whenever the 
continuity of the former is interrupted in the latter, as 
almost invariably happens in any plot at all complicated. 
The modern novelist generally omits the old-fashioned 
formulas, "we must now leave A and B for a time and 
follow the fortunes of C and D," etc., but the breaks are 
still in evidence. Simplicity or complexity of plot-struc- 
ture depends partly on the mere number of single actions, 
but more distinctly on their relations in the narrative, of 
which sequence is an important phase. Certain theoretical 
forms of sequence may be distinguished. While these are 
commonly combined in actual plot, one or another may be 
clearly predominant. 

1. The episodic, J ? — ! — i_, etc. 

2. The alternating, J L _L _L _J_ J_, etc. 

3. The dependent, "~*l 

4. The interwoven, 2 —^ 



3' 



Of these, the episodic is the simplest, but results in a 
looseness of plot, usually avoided in part by the persistence 
of some one simple enveloping or main action. The third 
method is somewhat confusing, as it compels one to imagine 
two or more place and time settings and groups of dramatis 
personae at one time. In double form it is found in all 



PLOT 



57 



cases of intercalated narrative; interesting examples of 
triple form occur in Euphues and Frankenstein. At 
one point in the latter romance, the primary place setting 
is a ship in the northern seas; the secondary, a remote 
island of Scotland ; the tertiary, the fair lakes of Switzer- 
land. The typical plot-structure of an artistic novel is 
based on a combination of the second and fourth formulas. 
Interweaving is most imperative at climax and catastrophe, 
especially the latter. 

In a well-constructed novel, the chapter is generally a 
satisfactory unit for examining the sequence of narratives. 

SEQUENCE OF SIMPLE NARRATIVES IN JANET'S 
REPENTANCE 



Chapter 
I 
2 
3 



15 



iS 



i9 



25 



26 



27 



28 



I, Spiritual history of Janet Dempster; 2, spiritual history of Edgar 
Tryan ; 3, ecclesiastical relations of Milby to the rest of England. 

SEQUENCE OF SIMPLE NARRATIVES IN SILAS MARNER 



Chapter 
I 
2 

3 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


r -2 


M 


15 


16 


17 


18 


*9 


20 


21 


Con. 



I, History of Silas Marner ; 2, history of Godfrey Cass ; 3, social life 
of Lantern Yard and Raveloe. 

50. The Dramatic Line. — The dramatic line is a name 
for the design of the whole plot-movement as determined 
by points of special importance called "turning-points." 
In a more strict sense it applies only to a movement hav- 
ing a definite climax about halfway between the initial 



58 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

point and the catastrophe. The term "climax" in this 
technical sense must be distinguished from its general 
rhetorical use, and specially from a common usage which 
identifies it with the catastrophe. The movement from the 
initial point to the climax is called the " rise " ; from the 
climax to catastrophe, the "fall." The dramatic line, 
while more characteristic of the drama than the novel, is 
very easily traced in many novels. Several other points, 
besides the three mentioned, have been discovered and 
named by critics of plot — " tragic force," " final suspense," 
"further resolution," etc.; and some of these are often 
perfectly distinct in a well-constructed novel. The climax 
and catastrophe are the most significant points, determin- 
ing, for example, the tragic or comic nature of the plot 
as a whole. 

DRAMATIC LINE OF SILAS MARNER 




I. Initial point: the stolen knife, Chapter I. — 2. Climax: the 
coming of Eppie, Chapter XII. — 3. Catastrophe: Eppie's resolve 
to remain with Silas, Chapter XIX. 



DRAMATIC LINE OF PRIDE AND PREJUDICE 




I. Initial point: the arrival of Bingley, Chapter I. — 2. Climax: 
Darcy's proposal, Chapter XXXIV. — 3. Tragic force: Darcy's 
letter, Chapter XXXV. — 4. Final suspense: Lady de Bourgh's 
interference, Chapter LVI. — 5. Catastrophe: Elizabeth's engage- 
ment, Chapter LVIII. 



PLOT 59 

51. The Climax. — In a novel, the climax is generally 
somewhat diffused, and it may not always be possible to 
locate it in a single paragraph or sentence. In some cases 
it is quite central ; in others, nearer the catastrophe than 
the initial point — the fall of the action being more rapid 
than the rise. 1 In all novels it is likely to be marked 
by some striking external event or incident — historical 
often in historical fiction, social in the novel of manners, 
etc. In fiction in which character is supreme, this external 
climax is always accompanied by an intellectual or moral 
crisis in the important characters. In novels of philo- 
sophical quality, it is frequently emphasized by some gen- 
eralized reflection, as in Janet's Repentance: "There 
are moments when, by some strange impulse, we contra- 
dict our past selves — fatal moments, when a fit of passion, 
like a lava stream, lays low the work of half our lives.' p 
(Chapter XIV.) While the entire plot before the climax 
is in a sense a preparation for it, the immediately preced- 
ing movement is usually more specifically preparatory, 
falls into well-marked stages, and is likely to be somewhat 
accelerated. The ideal climax is one which is definitely 
common to all the single actions ; but often the separate 
actions have somewhat divergent climaxes, in which case 
the closest approach to true " plot-climax " is found in the 
climax of the principal action. 

EXAMPLES 

In Silas Marner, the whole of Chapter XII is a climax. It includes 
one of the very few striking external events of the plot, but is even 
more distinctly an inward experience of the soul. In the immediate 
event it concerns primarily the Silas Marner action, but in a very clear 
manner it is a culminating point in both the main actions, and the chief 

1 In the drama, Freytag and Moulton find it, usually, close to the center. 



60 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

motivating force of both throughout the further development of the plot. 
A more specific location might find a climax at the point in which the 
" counter-play " (see glossary) becomes " play " ; the moment when 
Silas Marner ceases to be passive under his fate, and begins to mould 
his own fortunes — " Marner stooped to lift it on his knees." 

In Pride and Prejudice, the exact point of climax is again found 
only in the principal action, but it is obviously a real turning-point for 
the other main actions. Especially does the tragic force, Darcy's letter, 
relate causally to the future of Jane and Bingley and Wickham, as well 
as Elizabeth and Darcy themselves. This climax is a definite external 
event, striking enough to the two characters immediately concerned, 
though not so exciting to the reader ; but its deeper quality is clearly 
psychological — it is a distinct crisis in the moral development of both 
lovers. It may be noted that this climax is curiously near the center 
of the novel. The tragic force is emphasized by the epistolary form, 
and followed by one of the few significant soliloquies of the novel — 
" How despicably have I acted," etc. 

52. The Catastrophe. — The climax is sometimes very 
faintly indicated, perhaps omitted altogether; the very 
nature of artistic narrative demands a more or less em- 
phatic catastrophe. While art must deviate somewhat 
from life at this point, and very often degenerates into 
artificiality, catastrophe has a foundation in actual experi- 
ence. The statement of certain realistic critics that noth- 
ing comes to an end outside of fiction, is true only in a 
limited sense. Scientifically, we may perceive the continu- 
ity of material and social forces, but our imaginative and 
moral interpretation of experience locates certain points 
which are, for our purposes, final. The Emancipation 
Proclamation may be considered almost the beginning of 
the "negro problem, ,, in the current sense, but it is not 
therefore a mistake to consider it as the close of the history 
of slavery in America. Every death, and, in spite of its 
hackneyed treatment in the novel, every marriage, is a real 
catastrophe in the lives of a group of people — it concludes 



PLOT 6 1 

certain episodes conveniently if not logically viewed as 
detachable unities of experience. 

Artificiality in novelistic catastrophe takes many forms. 
Forced pessimism or optimism, whether due to the wilful- 
ness of the author or his slavery to the reading public, are 
unfortunately common. An artifice of less ethical signifi- 
cance is the forced ensemble, whether the characters 
actually meet, or are assembled merely in the imagination 
of the novelist. While life shows its own group catastro- 
phes, it is not so common in ordinary social experience as in 
fiction to find a single event distinctly final, introductory to 
a permanent situation, and equally significant for a con- 
siderable number of people. Frequently the artificiality 
lies not so much in the mere event of the catastrophe as in 
the motivation, or the speed with which it is approached. 

Representative types of catastrophic event are separa- 
tion or reunion of characters ; discovery of mistaken iden- 
tity; discovery and punishment of crime; marriage, and 
death. Perhaps the grandest catastrophe ever conceived 
by human imagination is the judgment day. This has 
found a place in the religious drama; but even in the 
broadest, most "epic," of historical romances, the final 
event rarely reaches such dimensions. The modern real- 
istic tendency is to find the most significant catastrophe as 
well as climax, in the moral experience of the individual. 
Modern imagination cannot unify the moral experiences 
of the whole human race so easily as did the medieval 
imagination. 

The novel is generally less hurried than the drama in conclusion as 
well as beginning. The technical catastrophe is often at some little 
distance from the final paragraph, as indicated in the diagrams of 
Section 50. In Silas Marner the author follows the Shakespearian 
method of introducing a passage of comparative calm after the more 



62 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

intense conclusion of the tragic movement; though in the dramatist 
such passages are always much more brief than the " Conclusion " of 
Silas Marner. 

EXAMPLES 

Ivanhoe. The catastrophe includes marriage, conversion (of 
Rebecca), reconciliation, discovery of identity. 

Last of the Mohicans. The catastrophe is mainly in the external 
history of the characters; including death, freedom from captivity, 
separation of friends. 

Quo Vadis. The historical quality of the plot is emphasized by 
the epic breadth of events, and the death of Nero and Petronius ; the 
religious quality by the conversion of Chilo and the death of Peter. 

Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen has here varied the common 
formula by making the engagements instead of the marriages of the 
sisters the chief events. The engagement of Elizabeth comes last, 
emphasizing her predominance in the whole plot. After the real 
catastrophe, there follow two leisurely chapters giving the final situa- 
tion with comparatively little movement. 

53. Motivation. — This is a technical term to denote the 
causation of the plot-movement, especially in reference to 
its conscious artistic management. It is to be distinguished 
from " motif " and " motive," — the purpose of a character ; 
an important but by no means the only type of motivating 
force. 

Some critics have attempted to distinguish between the v 
dramatic and epic narrative in respect to motivation. Zim- 
merman writes r 1 " The dramatic imagination falls under the 
category of causality, the epic only under the presentation 
form of time " ; including the novel under the epic. This 
statement does not agree with the practise of the greater 
novelists or with representative modern theory of novel- 
istic plot. Walter Scott gives a higher and more accept- 

1 iEsthetik. 



PLOT 63 

able view, though without any statement of aesthetic 
principle, in this passage : " The most marked distinction 
between a real and a fictitious narrative [is] that the 
former, in reference to the remote causes of the events it 
relates, is obscure, doubtful, and mysterious; whereas in 
the latter case, it is a part of the author's duty to afford 
satisfactory details upon the causes of the separate events 
he has recorded, and, in a word, to account for every thing.' ' 

Scott's last phrase, however, is too strong, as he himself points out 
elsewhere in reference to Mrs. Radcliffe's catastrophic explanation of 
her mysteries of plot, ^sthetically considered, the main function of 
motivation is to increase the illusion of reality, which might be destroyed 
if every incident were given definite and clear causal explanation ; for 
life itself is not so simple. When Eppie comes to Silas Marner, we 
know why her mother died, why the baby crept to the cottage, why 
Silas did not see her at first, etc. ; but in the novel, as it might have 
been in life, it seems purely a chance coincidence that the mother's 
death occurs just at that particular furze bush near the weaver's home. 
Again, there is no special explanation given to account for Eppie and 
Aaron falling in love so conveniently. 

Structurally, motivation may be given in mass, or in 
solution ; before, with, or after the effects ; by one contin- 
uous force, or many changing forces; through the plot 
itself or the characters, or from the outside, as it were. It 
naturally receives special attention at the main points of 
the dramatic line. The catastrophe is often an occasion 
for a general massing of motive forces, either by way of 
review, or of explanation not previously given. In relation 
to their results, motive forces may be adequate, insufficient, 
or excessive. Many effects of tragedy, irony, and carica- 
ture are obtained by subtle treatment of these relations. 

54. Motivating Forces. — The most important influences 
shaping the plot-movement of a novel are nature, society, 



64 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

individual character, the supernatural or superhuman, — 
chance, fate, providence, etc., — and, in a sense, the decree 
of the novelist himself. As in real life, thorough under- 
standing of events may imply some separate notice of 
proximate and remote causes. 

Defoe, for example, characteristically combines practical, common- 
place causes with the more ultimate influence of Providence. In The 
Plague Year he accepts the view that the pestilence was " a stroke from 
heaven — a messenger of [God's] vengeance"; but adds, "When I 
am speaking of the Plague as a distemper arising from natural causes, 
we must consider it as if it was really propagated by natural means," 
etc. ; distinguishing the relation of the two causes at some length. 

Naturalism, in the full sense of the word, traces all causes 
back to the one primary cause — Nature. Character is de- 
termined by heredity, animal instinct, natural environ- 
ment, etc. ; external events — war, pestilence, individual 
birth and death, rise and decline of racial supremacy — 
are links in a continuous causal series governed by Nature. 
In the novel of manners and allied types of fiction, society 
is the chief motivating force ; in the psychological novel, 
the conscious and unconscious forces of the individual 
predominate; in the religious novel and many types of 
romance, the supernatural influences are prominent. Mrs. 
Radcliffe's special method was to introduce apparently 
supernatural causes, and afterwards explain them as natu- 
ral, though unusual. 

When a single character of the novel is a primary influ- 
ence in shaping the events, he is called technically a 
"motivating character "; in the traditional phrase, a 
deus ex machina. If his influence is for the good, he be- 
comes a "dramatic providence" ; if for the evil, he corre- 
sponds more or less closely to the typical "villain." The 



PLOT 65 

power given to such characters is often so large that the 
imagination refuses to accept the illusion of reality. Often 
the novelist himself appears as a striking deus — or dia- 
bolus — ex machina. Reserve, sincerity, dramatic imagi- 
nation, or their opposites, are as distinctly marked in 
motivation as in any function of the novelist. Arbitrary 
optimism or pessimism gives a one-sided ethical inter- 
pretation of the government of human destiny; pro- 
nounced realism often traces all results to such petty 
causes that the beauty, if not the verisimilitude, of the plot 
is destroyed; exaggerated romanticism is satisfied only 
with grand, remote causes which do not correspond with 
those observed in our own experience. Any one who has 
written a single short story realizes the persistent and diffi- 
cult problem of artistic motivation. It is a matter that 
requires great natural gift or long practise in order that 
art may conceal art. 



EXAMPLES OF MOTIVATION 

The Plague Year. Another example of the mingling of human with 
providential causes occurs in explaining why the narrator remained in 
the plague-stricken city — his business demands it; his servant has 
abandoned him ; but there is, also, specific supernatural guidance by 
means of the Biblical passage. The cessation of the plague is traced 
entirely to Providence : " Nothing but the immediate finger of God, 
nothing but Omnipotent Power, could have done it ! " 

Pride and Prejudice. While the general motivation is largely 
social, it is distinctly psychological in Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy. 
They shape their own destinies, and have much influence over others. 
There is rational, psychological motivation for their love, in contrast 
with love at first sight in Rosalind and Orlando, Romeo and Juliet, and 
the unexplained development of love in Eppie and Aaron. Wickham 
approaches the structural function of a villain. Relatively accidental 
or trivial causes bring Mr. Bingley to Netherfield House and Elizabeth 



66 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

to Pemberley Park. Nature has comparatively small place in the moti- 
vation of Jane Austen. The rain-storm of Chapter VII is of some 
importance, and is naturally introduced. 

Silas Marner. The novel is predominantly psychological, and 
self-motivation has large place in Silas and Godfrey, especially the 
latter. In both it is distinctly ethical. The novelist approaches the 
villain in William Dane and Dunstan Cass. Social motivation is 
specially prominent in the casting of lots and in the influence of public 
opinion in Raveloe. A striking substitution of moral, human motiva- 
tion for natural is found in the character of Eppie. Her development 
into a sweet, frank nature could hardly be explained by inheritance — 
perhaps is a violation of the scientific law of heredity — but is traced 
to the human environment, the loving interest of Silas and the com- 
munity. Above all human causes is the dim First Cause ; mysterious, 
but bringing just punishment for sin, and salvation for the righteous 
soul that has suffered man's inhumanity to man. 

55. The Narrator. His Point of View. — It is clear that 
there can be no narration without a central narrator who 
is the real plot-maker. In the novel he may be very much 
in evidence or remain behind the scenes, but it is never 
strictly true that "the characters tell their own story." 
In Pamela, Richardson arranges the letters, not imagined 
as even collected by any one else, and determines the 
plot-movement as truly as does Smollett in Roderick 
Random. The primary narrator is always the author, in 
propria persona, as a writer, though he may assume to be 
merely editor or listener, or in other ways introduce sec- 
ondary (dramatic) narrators between himself and the 
reader. Even when he enters the action as an important 
dramatis persona, he is perfectly distinct from all the other 
characters, in his narrative function. Except in fiction of 
the I-form, the author is the only one acquainted with all 
the incidents of the plot. 

The narrator takes some general point of view for the 
entire action, and specific points of view for every part of 



PLOT 67 

it, in reference to time, place, characters, social and ethical 
philosophy, etc. The unity of a passage or a plot depends 
largely on the clearness and stability of his position. The 
novelistic narrator, however, is given great freedom in this 
respect, which one has only to examine to discover how 
different the novel is from life. He may hold himself 
aloof from his characters and action, observing them as a 
mere spectator or student of life, with miraculous power to 
move at will through time, space, and the thoughts and 
feelings of men ; or partially identify himself with his own 
creation, — as an imminent divinity, — or alternate between 
the two positions. Taking "the reader's point of view" 
is often attempted, but is in a strict sense impossible. 

56. Temporal Point of View. — When is the narration 
recorded in reference to the time of action ? The modern 
third-person novel may avoid the appearance of being a 
document at all, entirely subordinating the reality of the 
narrative to the illusion of the action. It is curious to note 
Jane Austen lapsing for a moment from her famous 
dramatic objectivity in Pride and Prejudice: "It is not 
the object of this work to give descriptions of Derby- 
shire," etc, (Chapter XLII.) In autobiographical fiction 
(for example, Robinson Crusoe), or in other forms of im- 
aginary manuscript (for example, The Castle of Otranto), 
the fictitious time of writing may be treated artistically 
as part of the illusion. Autobiographical fiction often has 
a peculiar warmth of the present, because of the influence 
of vivifying memory. 

Ordinarily, when we notice the necessary inferences, we 
see that the narration could not have been begun until the 
action was complete. All direct anticipation (see Sec- 
tion 40) interrupts the illusion of an immediate present 
action. The journal form, and sometimes the epistolary, 



68 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

as noted by Richardson in reference to his own works, are 
technically distinguished as narratives immediately follow- 
ing or accompanying the action. The action supposed to 
occur in the future, as in some Utopian fictions, belongs 
to the impossibilities of romance, and serious effort at 
illusion of futurity is rarely maintained. It is not uncom- 
mon to bring the narrative to a present tense coincidence 
with the action at the catastrophe, perhaps with a peep 
into the possible future. The historical present is an aid 
to illusion in brief passages, but if employed too much 
would be intolerably artificial, and destructive of veri- 
similitude. 

The events of the stage drama are given in chronological order, 
though the dramatist freely condenses or omits portions of the action ; 
but in the novel inversion of chronological order, and a narrative 
sequence for synchronous actions, are constantly found. An example 
of such inversion is found at the opening of Silas Marner — the in 
medias res formula ; and of the narrative sequence in the same novel, 
Chapters XI and XII. 

A special form of temporal point of view is occasionally found in 
reixoo-KOTTLa, in which the narrator — usually episodic — reports action 
while it is occurring. This device is more characteristic of the drama 
than the novel, and of romance than realism. It is found in Suder- 
mann's Magda, Ibsen's Pretenders, Hedda Gabler, Tennyson's Harold, 
etc. A noted example in the romance is Rebecca's report of the fight 
before the castle of Front-de-Bceuf. 

EXAMPLES OF COMPLEX TEMPORAL POINT OF VIEW 

At the opening of Chapter XVI of Silas Marner, the time point of 
view is threefold: (i) The novelist is in general considering a period 
some forty years before her narration, and contrasts the two times by 
the phrase, " of that time " ; (2) she uses the present tense to increase 
the illusion of immediacy — " is not much changed ; " (3) she recalls 
the action of sixteen years before, by narrative reminiscence. (There is 
no sign that the characters are in a mood of memory at this point, or 
ever fully realize all the changes the author points out.) 



PLOT 69 

In James White's Earl Strongbow, the real time of the narrative 
is 1789 (date of publication) ; the date of the fictitious discovery of the 
manuscript is 1740 ; of the writing of the manuscript, about 1660 ; of the 
main action, the period of Henry II, the hero dying in 1177. The last 
three time points belong to the illusion, and there is definite artistic con- 
trast between the last two, as in the spirited passage (close of Night 
Four), " such were the days of chivalry," etc. The hero of this fiction 
has had an unusually long experience as a ghost — about five hundred 
years. 

57. Spatial Point of View. — This is most frequently 
considered with reference to description of places, objects, 
and persons, isolated or in scenes ; but it is also significant 
in pure narrative. It may help to determine whether a 
given occurrence shall be regarded mainly as of descrip- 
tive or narrative interest. A battle a mile or two distant 
from the spectator may naturally be considered as a picture ; 
but if he is at the battle center (theoretically out of danger), 
he will be compelled to attend to the neighboring movement, 
with its complicated and changing incidents. 

In the plot as a whole, the spatial point of view concerns 
the range, distance, and scale of the visual field, and its 
general relation to the author's mind. This field may be 
purely imaginary, typical, or concretely real — long-remem- 
bered, freshly observed, or actually before the author as he 
writes. Great range is found in the " international novel/' 
and all forms of the novel of travel ; the greatest in romance 
which leaves the earth itself for more remote regions. The 
scale of measurement is usually that of ordinary conscious- 
ness, which permits a wide variety ; but in romance it may 
undergo transformation, as in Gulliver's Travels, many 
fairy stories, and some fictions with an animal or object as 
autobiographer. 

The spatial range of Pride and Prejudice is limited to certain por- 
tions of England. The scale of measurement is partly indicated by the 



70 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

remark of Elizabeth Bennet in Chapter XXXII : " An easy distance 
you call it? It is nearly fifty miles." In Silas Marner, the hero 
comes to Raveloe from "distant parts" — possibly a hundred miles 
away — from the "unknown region called North'ard." (Among other 
effects, the railroad has lengthened the everyday measuring rod of the 
novelist.) In Robinson Crusoe, Defoe's imagination passes over much 
of the habitable globe ; yet is singularly alert in the topography of the 
island-home and its immediate environment. 

The spatial point of view necessarily changes frequently 
for the individual incidents of a novel. It is not a mere 
matter of setting for an event, but modifies the actual con- 
tent of incident, consequently its emphasis and its value 
in the unity of plot. To persons of little imaginative or 
experiential space range, events which occur at a remote 
distance are as dim as those of a dream. Scott could not 
have given the details of Robin Hood's bow-shooting 
(Section 31) unless he placed himself within a hundred 
yards or so of the bowman. If the novelist leaves an inci- 
dent without specific time or place relation, we know 
that he was not closely identified with it, or does not desire 
to emphasize it. 

Most of the interior incidents of Silas Marner are located in specific 
rooms ; but many of those in Pride and Prejudice are not, and some 
of them have neither specific time nor place setting. In Chapter VI, we 
do not know when or where [Elizabeth] "mentioned this to Miss 
Lucas.'" On the other hand, at least six times in this novel we are 
looking either at or out of some definite window. 

Whenever characters approach one another or objects, the novelist 
usually takes some definite position in relation to the line of approach. 
In Pride and Prejudice, the author approaches Hunsford, Rosings, 
the Bennet home, the Gardiners' London residence, Pemberley House, 
with Elizabeth Bennet. In the "Conclusion" of Silas Marner, the 
novelist sees Eppie at a " little distance " ; later sees her approach from 
the Rainbow group, and finally moves towards the Stone Pits with her. 
A fully developed and compact " scene " is generally characterized by a 
greater fixity of spatial position than is here found. 



PLOT 71 

58. Character Point of View. — In fiction in which the 
I-form is sustained, unity of plot is greatly aided by the 
single central narrator ; but often such fiction introduces 
several other secondary narrators. In genuinely autobio- 
graphical form, the author is inevitably identified to some 
extent with the dramatic narrator, if for no other reason j 
than that he is so closely and continuously associated with ; ; 
him. In other forms of fiction, the author often increases ; 

* it 

the unity by some degree of general identification with a 
single character, or by identification with different charac- 
ters in the separate incidents. If a single central character 
represents, in general outline, the actual or ideal experience 
of the author as a real individual, as in Pilgrim's Progress, 
and, to a less extent, Robinson Crusoe, there is a high 
degree of unity ; but when this identification is much inter- 
rupted or episodic, as in The Mill on the Floss, David 
Copperfield, and Anna Karenina, the unity may be in- 
jured rather than aided. 

The identification of the author with a character may be 
quite external, as in a coincident temporal and spatial point 
of view ; or much more profound, in coincidence of tem- 
perament, habits, principles, and ideals. Except in auto- 
biographical form, such identification is never complete, 
for no one character knows all that the author knows of 
the movement of the plot. i 

In Pride and Prejudice the author seems to be very closely identi- \ 
fied with Elizabeth Bennet, in temperament and principle, if not in 
experience ; but Elizabeth never knows the details of Miss Bingley's 
criticism of her, or the personal opinion Miss Austen gives : " If grati- 
tude and esteem are good foundations of affection, Elizabeth's change 
of sentiment will be neither improbable or faulty. But if otherwise . . . 
nothing can be said in her defence." (Chapter XLVI.) This is probably 
the only passage in which the author actually appears with her heroine, 



72 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

as a distinctly different person. In general, Elizabeth knows as much 
about herself as the novelist knows of her. 

Many effects of dramatic irony depend on this condition, that the 
author (and the reader) is more omniscient than any single character. 
In Silas Marner, the hero never knows the whole story of Godfrey's 
first marriage; Godfrey knows nothing of Marner's Lantern Yard ex- 
periences. 

59. Generalized Statement of Plot. — Study of an indi- 
vidual plot according to the foregoing analysis may be fol- 
lowed by a condensed statement of its typical outline, as 
a basis for classification, judgment, and comparison with 
other plots. As one moves from more concrete to more 
abstract statement, the oft-repeated truth that literature 
contains only a very few typical plot-movements becomes 
more apparent. Even the most abstract formula, however, 
should include all that is essential in the outline of the 
individual plot. A plot correctly analyzed into several 
actions cannot be adequately stated in the terms of any 
one action. 

EXAMPLES OF GENERALIZED STATEMENT OF PLOT 

Silas Marner. A statement may easily be made by combining the 
two main actions as given in Section 48. 

More abstract statement. Converging interests of A and B through 
the agency of C, which brings merited happiness to A, merited but 
salutary unhappiness to B. 

Pride and Prejudice. Very abstract statement. Emotional conver- 
gence of (A, B), (C, D). Divergence through misunderstanding, 
character weakness of A and B, and deceit of E. Reconvergence of 
couples and group through discovery of E's villainy, and character 
reform of A and B. 

Pamela. A young, unprincipled aristocrat attempts to seduce a peas- 
ant girl in his household employment. Her long-continued virtuous 
resistance leads to his reform and happy marriage with her. 

More abstract statement. Moral divergence of A and B through A's 
selfish attempt to ruin B's character. Convergence to happy situation 
through B's persistent virtue, which reforms A. 



PLOT 73 

Dona Perfecta. Selfishness and mistaken religious zeal in A cause 
permanent tragic suffering in B (most beloved friend of A) and C (most 
beloved friend of B). 

60. Unity of Plot. — The unity of plot may be discussed 
in various ways, but it depends mainly on persistent point 
of view, clear and unbroken motivation, and constant con- 
vergence of all action toward the catastrophe, which im- 
plies the omission of all non-essential incidents, and proper 
emphasis upon those recorded. 

Unified motivation and convergence are strikingly repre- 
sented, if in a somewhat barren form, by such cumulative 
actions as " for want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want 
of a shoe the horse was lost," etc. All the essentials of 
unified plot may be illustrated by a genealogy showing the 
ancestry of a character A. The point of view might be 
that of scientific interest in heredity, or of personal interest 
in A ; the motivation is through the law of heredity ; the 
main convergence is between the maternal and paternal 
lines of descent. 

All intercalation, reversion, independent episode, digres- 
sion, emphasis upon situation, tend to weaken the conver- 
gence. " Scenes " are less economic than pure events in 
the technical unity of plot. In Silas Marner the scenes in 
Chapter VI and Chapter XXI, considering the space given 
them, may be judged somewhat centrifugal. 

If a plot has been analyzed into single actions, the study of conver- 
gence may rest mainly upon these, though there may be a convergent 
movement in a single action. In Janefs Repentance, the interests of 
Janet and Mr. Tryan approach by these steps : 1 . Janet is interested 
in her husband's attack upon Mr. Tryan, and helps prepare the mock 
program ; 2. The chance meeting ; 3. The confession; 4. The min- 
ister's change of residence and sickness ; 5. The avowal of love. 

In the introductions to The Monastery and The Fortunes of 
Nigel, Scott distinguishes the loose plot-structure of Lesage and 



74 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Smollett from the closely unified plot of Fielding. Fielding constructed 
the novel with a keen dramatic sense, and ample experience in dramatic 
composition. His important characters are all on the stage at the con- 
clusion of the action. The autobiographical plot, in general, is prone 
to frequent introduction of new characters, and abandonment of old 
ones. An autobiographical novel of a psychological type, however, is 
strongly unified by persistent point of view — the purpose, character, or 
development of the hero — but is often weak in motivation and conver- 
gence. In Robinson Crusoe there is considerable unity in the social 
and religious philosophy of the hero, — his idealization of contented 
middle-class position, and his belief in personal providence ; but the 
unity of both motivation and convergence to catastrophe is rather faint. 

61. Types of Plot. — In relation to their characters, plots 
are either superior, fairly equal, or subordinate in value. 
" Plot-novel" is a name which may be used to indicate 
the first relation. Stevenson, in the course of his critical 
defence of romance, emphasized the fact that it is plot 
rather than characters that allows a free, spontaneous 
play to the reader's imaginative longings. A rapid and 
various movement of external incident permits one tem- 
porarily to lose sight of his own character and problems ; 
whereas the presence of other well-developed individuals, 
with their insistent problems, emotions, ideals, and mode 
of speech, may seem an intrusion and arouse friction. 
Sometimes in fiction, as in life, one wishes to be alone 
with his spontaneous dreams and desires. 

In reference to technical structure, plots may be clas- 
sified as : loose (episodic), closely unified ; simple, complex ; 
catastrophic, climactic ; plots of movement, of situation, 
etc. These terms, like most of those used in literary 
classification, are somewhat theoretical, and not altogether 
mutually exclusive. 

The distinction between a loose and closely unified plot is suggested 
in Section 60. In a plot properly called episodic the principal interest 



plot 75 

must lie in the episodes themselves, considered as independent actions, 
though there is usually some persistent action connecting them. Many 
novels in the I-form are episodic, but in a true autobiographical fiction 
the development of the hero's own character may be more important 
than his external experience or the people whom he meets. Robinson 
Crusoe, as a whole, is a good example of an episodic plot ; Gulliver's 
Travels a still better one, because the central character is less significant. 

A simple plot, in the full sense, is one that can be best 
stated as a single action. Its abstract scheme is represented 
in the genealogy giving a single line of descent, and its 
concrete nature in an autobiographical fiction in which all 
the incidents are unified by the Hfe-history of the hero. 
A complex plot is one best analyzed into several persistent 
single actions of unequal importance. An episodic plot 
may be complex enough in its several portions, but is 
always simple in general outline. The complex plot 
is the usual type in the novel, and the normal one, if 
complexity is considered an essential quality of novelistic 
style. Of course there are countless degrees of com- 
plexity involved in the varying number, relative impor- 
tance, and arrangement of the single actions. The 
actions are often naturally grouped into a " main-plot " 
and a " sub-plot." 

All plots have some sort of catastrophe, but the term 
" catastrophic" may be specifically applied to those, whether 
simple or complex, in which this point is of special impor- 
tance in unifying the whole movement. An episodic plot 
can never in a true sense be catastrophic. The nature of 
climactic plot has been indicated in Section 50. From the 
meaning of the terms, all climactic plots are also cata- 
strophic. In a plot characterized by movement, the catastro- 
phe is distinctly remote from the initial point, owing to 
multiplicity of incident, and often to duration of time. A 



76 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

plot of situation devotes itself to studying present condi- 
tions rather than to changing them. 

As to their dominant type of incident, plots may be 
classified as : comic, tragic; historical, ideal ; social, individ- 
ual ; objective, subjective (psychological), etc. In the 
novel, as in the drama, a tragic main-plot with a comic 
sub-plot is much more common than the inverse relation, 
for reasons of deep aesthetic and moral significance. 

EXAMPLES OF PLOT-TYPES 

Master and Man. Reveals character through plot ; is well unified ; 
simple; catastrophic; emphasizes movement; tragic; ideal; social- 
individual ; objective-subjective. 

The Plague Year. A plot-novel; somewhat loose; simple; cli- 
mactic ; emphasizing situation ; historical ; tragic ; social ; objective. 

Silas Marner. A novel of character ; well unified ; technically 
complex; climactic; emphasizing situation; tragic-(comic) ; subjec- 
tive; psychological- (social). 

Dona Perfecta. Well unified ; complex ; climactic ; emphasizing 
movement ; tragic ; fair equivalence of character and action, objective 
and subjective, social and individual qualities. 

Pride and Prejudice. Well unified; complex; climactic; empha- 
sizing movement; in broad sense, comic; with essential balance of 
objective and subjective, social and individual interest. 

Gulliver's Travels. Subject really predominates over both action 
and characters; loose; episodic; chiefly situation; ideal; satirical; 
social; objective. 

62. The Judgment of Plot. — Without a distinct unity 
of form or of meaning, no judgment upon a plot as a whole 
could be given. Further than this, no single absolute 
standard of judgment can be stated. The differences of 
critical opinion rest upon profound differences of aesthetic 
and ethical Weltanschauung, which cannot be forced into 
agreement. The critics who consider the plot of Tom 
Jones to be the best in English fiction have a philosophy 



PLOT y7 

of life incompatible with that of critics who give first 
place to Silas Marner or Pride and Prejudice. Neverthe- 
less, certain representative standards may be distinguished, 
and it may be affirmed that a good plot must satisfy at least 
one of these ; that a supremely excellent plot must satisfy 
several. Some of these standards are primarily technical ; 
others more immediately and broadly aesthetic or ethical. 

Among the technical standards of frequent application 
are well-developed dramatic line, rapidity of movement, 
intensity of interest, simplicity or complexity. The simple 
plot has a beauty of its own, but seems more characteristic 
of the short story than the novel. The origin and history 
of the novel as a species is associated with Gothic art rather 
than with Greek. Complexity may be considered advan- 
tageous, if not necessary, for the most complete expres- 
sion of design. 

Less technical standards demand : that the movement of 
the plot be determined by the individuality of the characters ; 
be representative of a great ethical law, or otherwise of broad 
and deep human significance ; be characterized throughout 
by repose, or pass from great moral passion to a logical 
moral calm ; be optimistic in general tendency ; etc. 

A final judgment of a great plot must rest on a familiar acquaintance 
with all its materials and form. Probably the main outline should 
appear at a first reading, and be capable of very condensed state- 
ment, but the complete significance of details should be practically 
inexhaustible. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE SETTINGS 

63. Esthetic Function of Settings. — Every action as a 
whole, and the incidents which compose it, must occur in 
some definite environment of time, place, and circumstances; 
but these accessories may be very variously developed in 
a narrative. The imagination, in general, takes relatively 
little delight in the mere outline of an action, and a primary 
value of the settings is to increase interest — to give 
warmth, concreteness, and individuality to events. The 
settings of a novel are often of special service in aiding 
the illusion, as well as in deepening the unity, beauty, and 
human significance of the fictitious action. 

It may not always be possible to draw a sharp line 
between an incident and its accessories, but the term 
" settings" implies subordination — to be tested not by mere 
number of words, but by relative artistic significance. 
Development of settings beyond this point is a violation of 
artistic economy. 

In practical criticism, a close study of the environment of an inci- 
dent aids one to realize and remember the full value of the author's 
imaginative conception. If Sidney Lanier had ever noted carefully the 
time setting of the climax in Silas Marner, he could not have written 
of < a ray of sunshine striking through the window and illuminating the 
little one's head.' * 

64. General Time Setting. — In pure romance, an action 
may be placed in the future, or in an indeterminate past, 

1 The English Novel, p. 28. 

78 



THE SETTINGS 79 

represented in extreme form by the "once upon a time" of 
fairy tales. The general time setting of a realistic novel is 
always in a true sense historical, though historical time 
may be viewed against a background of biological time, as in 
many naturalistic novels ; or of eternity, as in some philo- 
sophical and religious novels. The historical period usually 
has some special imaginative value for the reader, before 
he is acquainted with the individual novel ; as in Quatre- 
Vingt-Treize, The Talisman, and Romola. 

Certain theories of the novel suggest some definite con- 
ception of the duration of the action, especially as compared 
with that of the short story and the drama. One impor- 
tant theory considers the novel as primarily concerned 
with a single individual life, in its complete development. 
As the German critic Spielhagen expresses it, the short 
story normally requires only a " Lebensausschnitt " ; the 
novel, Men ganzen Strom des Lebens/ Again, the novel 
is a description or interpretation of a unified social group, 
the novel of manners being the typical form. Both these 
theories indicate an action covering approximately a 
generation, and many representative novels show their 
influence clearly. Probably the Renaissance idea that one 
year was the proper time for an epic action has also had 
some influence upon the " modern epic." Various as is 
the duration of action in the novel, the average is distinctly 
longer than in the drama and short story. Probably there 
are no important novels limited to the traditional dramatic 
unity of twenty-four hours — found, for example, in The 
Tempest and Master and Man. 

65. Detailed Time Settings. — A general idea of the 
narrative distribution of time — the time perspective — in 
an individual novel may be gained by an examination of 
the principal terms in the time analysis. Occasionally the 



80 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

external divisions are based on uniform periods of time. 
If comprehensiveness is a characteristic of the novel, one 
may expect some special consideration of day and night, of 
each of the four seasons, etc. The single day is the most 
natural and the most frequent setting for individual scenes 
or well-unified events. There are distinct traditional back- 
ground values for the early morning, noon, evening, and 
night. 

The action of Silas Marner covers about a generation ; but chapter- 
groups XI to XIII and XVI to XX record the events of single days. 
Jane Austen uses the single day with more regularity in Pride and 
Prejudice ; " the next morning " being a frequent formula. 

Romanticism, for obvious reasons, has taken special de- 
light in the background effects of evening and night. The 
" sentimental school" associated the evening with reflection, 
" sensibility " and melancholy of a gentle type; Gothic 
romance developed the mystery, the tragic solemnity, and 
the supernatural atmosphere of the deeper night. Both of 
these romantic settings are often found in the works of 
Mrs. Radcliffe and Scott. In Mrs. Radcliffe's Italian, for 
example, many of the important incidents are given a very 
artistic evening or night setting. The special values given 
to these and other portions of the natural day may some- 
times be treated conventionally, but a little thought shows 
that they have some real basis in social, psychological, and 
physiological fact. 

Distinct effects may be gained by sudden changes — 
contraction or expansion — in the time perspective. Such 
effects may be in the service of romantic weirdness, or of 
realistic humor or pathos. 

The death of Paul Dombey is in pathetic contrast with the bright 
Sunday afternoon in summer on which it occurs, but Dickens increases 
the solemnity by association of this particular tragedy with " the old, 



THE SETTINGS 8 1 

old fashion ! The fashion that came in with our first garments, and will 
last unchanged until our race has run its course, and the wide firmament 
is rolled up like a scroll. 1 ' 

66. General Place Setting. — So far as it follows the 
traditions of the epic, the novel is characterized by a broad 
spatial background. This is conspicuous in the romance 
of chivalry, the picaresque novel, and in the more modern 
types of " international " fiction. The influence of the drama 
and of dramatic criticism has probably been in the other 
direction, but the novel has never submitted to the dramatic 
unity of place, strictly interpreted, as in the single room 
settings of Hedda Gabler and Magda. While in the novel 
devoted to an intensive study of the individual or society 
spatial range is less significant than in the novel of action, 
the weight of criticism and of practise indicates the short 
story as the normal type for purely local fiction. 

Romance inclines to escape the limitations of locality, 
either by imaginative transformation of real place, or by 
selection of purely ideal place. It finds a congenial back- 
ground in Arcadia, Utopia, the stars, the center of the 
earth, and nameless islands of remote seas. The new 
world attracted the writers of the Romantic Movement, as 
the home of the ■ natural, elemental man,' or the golden 
hope of the social dreamer. Modern realism prefers in 
general the great centers of social complexity — the Lon- 
don of Dickens, the Paris of Balzac, the Madrid of Valdes' 
La Espuma, etc. Often, however, the intricate life of the 
capital is emphasized by contrast with the simpler manners 
and ideas of the provinces ; and in this respect as in others 
the law of imaginative reaction can be traced. 

Many countries and regions have a more or less determinate value 
for the imagination. Italy is a conspicuous example. The Italy of 



82 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Roman and Catholic tradition, of Renaissance influence, of art, of land- 
scape, of rich political experience, and of cosmopolitan life, has in one 
way or another made a special appeal to both romancer and realist. 
Compare Corinne, Andersen's Improvisatore, Romola, The Last Days 
of Pompeii, Paul Heyse's stories, Bourget's Cosmopolis, Quo Vadis, etc. 

67. Detailed Place Settings. — These may be conve- 
niently classified as exteriors (in the main, natural) and 
interiors (in the main, social). The typical novel com- 
bines the two, though certain varieties incline to emphasize 
one or the other. Pastoral romance has its retired valleys, 
with conventional accessories ; the romance of chivalry its 
princely palace, its cell of hermit or monk ; Gothic romance 
its castle, with haunted chamber, gloomy dungeon, and 
secret passages. Romanticism in general has explored the 
ideal values of forest, sea, and mountain solitude. Pica- 
resque fiction has made special use of such settings as the 
prison, the thieves' den, and the tavern. The novel of 
manners leads the reader to places of routine domestic 
and social life, such as homes, offices, theatres, legislative 
halls, court-rooms, ball-rooms, parks and streets. 

It is mainly within doors that modern society eats, sleeps, marries, 
visits, worships, and dies. Many fictions include the name of a build- 
ing in their title, though this is never the most general setting — House 
of the Seven Gables, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Old Curiosity Shop, 
Castle Rackrent, The Small House at Allington, etc. Such realists as 
Balzac and Dickens are prolific in detailed description of city quarters, 
streets, houses, and individualized rooms. In the eighteenth century 
novels there are frequent scenes in the stagecoach ; nineteenth cen- 
tury realism finds the railroad train quite as useful, as in Dombey and 
Son, and Anna Karenina. 

In detailed landscape settings, Mrs. RadclifFe had a wide influence, 
through Scott and his school. The landscape of the realists is gener- 
ally more accurate, if not more artistic, and is more completely human- 
ized by association with individual or social experience, or by scientific 
and philosophical interpretation. 



THE SETTINGS 83 

68. Circumstantial Settings. — The most general circum- 
stances environing the action of a novel are the permanent 
conditions of society, nature, and the supernatural. In 
novels of a philosophical quality, the broader aspects of 
these conditions are often of great value as background. 
Novelists of various schools show a tendency towards 
mysticism, and touch with more or less emphasis such 
vast conceptions as the struggle for existence, the Ever- 
lasting No, lacrymce rernrn y das ewig Weibliche, the things 
that are eternal are unseen, etc. Zola and his school often 
make the deepest human experiences seem trivial against 
the majestic background of natural processes. They ring 
the changes, not always orthodox or hopeful, upon the old 
question: "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him ? " 
Ethical thinkers like George Eliot find apparently insig- 
nificant human actions intimately related to sublime moral 
laws. Bunyan, in his fiction as in his life, almost loses 
sight of the concrete material facts in the sense of the 
enveloping spiritual universe. 

In all novels, but notably in historical fiction and in 
the novel of manners and allied types, the detailed back- 
ground includes the temporary conditions of a social group, 
with various emphasis upon political, religious, industrial, 
and other circumstances. In social realists like Jane 
Austen and Trollope the elaborated settings rarely extend 
beyond such data. 

If one chooses to give so subjective a meaning to the 
term " circumstantial settings," it may include something 
of the psychological condition of the characters. A mood 
of memory may serve as background for the present expe- 
rience ; the emotions of secondary characters may intensify 
those of the principal characters, or lessen the tension, as 
in Chapters VI and XIII of Silas Marner. (See Section 35.) 



84 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

This last effect, gained through the comic or semi-comic 
characters of a tragic incident, is common in the novel as 
well as the drama. 

In details of natural setting, weather has a prominent function. 
Its changing moods may be in ironical contrast with the human expe- 
riences they accompany, as in the bright sunlight at the death of Paul 
Dombey ; or in harmony therewith, as in the wild storm that surrounds 
the death of Molly Cass. The love of nature developed by the modern 
romantic spirit appears in the frequent moonlight scenes of the senti- 
mental school, and the fierce Byronic tempests of the Gothic romance 
of terror. 

Detailed circumstantial settings may include all inanimate objects 
which have definite artistic relation to the incident. In the catastro- 
phe of Silas Marner, the furniture given to Silas by Godfrey and the 
recovered gold upon the table have an important relation to the pur- 
pose and result of the visit itself. Animals are often significant items 
of background. The contrast between the domesticated and the wild 
animals of Robinson Crusoe is interesting. 

69. Reality, Ideality, and Truth. — As already implied, 
the most general settings of all novels are necessarily real. 
Realism, in theory and in practise, has made much of fidel- 
ity to fact in details also. This realistic element may be 
largely for the sake of the subject-matter, or for the sake 
of verisimilitude; the first purpose often being scientific 
rather than artistic in spirit. 

Idealization takes many forms — selection, recombination, 
typification, symbolism, etc. Probably no novel exists 
without a great deal of idealization in the specific settings. 
Ideality is found in the description of the settings them- 
selves, and in their relation to the action, as in the familiar 
pathetic fallacy. 

^Esthetic criticism, partly in consequence of the pressure 
of realism, has endeavored to distinguish carefully between 
fact and truth. Some critics find the highest degree of 



THE SETTINGS 85 

truth in fidelity to the typical. Scott objected to the idea 
that he slavishly copied the individual buildings and land- 
scapes which served him as models ; there is scarcely any 
question that he is faithful to the essential qualities of their 
types. Another conception of artistic truth, even less 
obedient to the decree of the realist, is that of consistency. 
Critics have pointed out the remarkable consistency with 
which Swift uses both the gigantic and the pigmy scale in '■ 
Gulliver, though the application belongs to the impossi- 
bilities of romance. 

The novelist is unable to give all the data of any social, historical, or 
natural environment ; but those he does give may correspond with the 
facts. In a description of the battle of Gettysburg, it may not be 
possible to follow the historical weather hour by hour, but it is possible 
to make the details given consistent with a Pennsylvania July. 

Omission of essential data — though it may sometimes be difficult to 
agree on what is essential — will destroy the truth of the description, if 
not the impression of reality. If it was Booth Tarkington's purpose to 
give a general view of the life of a Hoosier village in The Gentleman 
from Indiana, the result is marred by the omission of the ecclesiastical 
life. Representation of the political life of the city of St. Paul would 
not be faithful if it omitted the Scandinavian element. 

70. Vague and Exact Settings. — There are few novels 
with a perfectly clear and continuous time perspective, and 
there is frequently dimness in the spatial perspective. 
Romance gains many characteristic effects from vagueness 
of setting. Realism inclines towards exact details ; for the 
sake of illusion, for purposes of characterization, or as a 
result of the general habit of close observation and analy- 
sis. Too much detail in description as in narration (Sec- 
tion 31) may destroy the impression of reality. 

Phrases such as i one day,' i a few weeks afterwards,' etc., are common 
in most novels. The reader knows neither the day of the week nor of 
the month on which Eppie is married, in Silas Marner; and the 



86 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

dates of both proposals of Darcy, in Pride and Prejudice, though these 
are respectively climactic and catastrophic events, are left without 
identification in the calendar. 

The architectural settings of Balzac and the landscapes of Scott are not 
infrequently so detailed that it is difficult to form a general picture. 
Great spatial exactness without confusion is found in The Gold-bug, and 
is characteristic of Poe's general method. The spot where the treasure 
is found is located with mathematical precision, by the aid of compass, 
quadrant, exact dimensions, three circles, and two triangles. 

In the time analysis of Master and Man, such details as " moments," 
" an instant," " several seconds," are characteristic of the psychological 
intensity of the author, and of the experiences he is relating. 

71. Natural, Social, and Socialized Settings. — In paint- 
ing, there are scenes in which both foreground and back- 
ground are entirely lacking in human figures. All the 
natural backgrounds of the novel are necessarily socialized 
to some extent, by association with human characters and 
actions. The tendency of the novel is to extend the human 
significance of environment far beyond this point of mere 
necessity. Landscape is interpreted in relation to social 
labor, art, history, or individual experience. Objects large 
or small are often partially personified, as are the cathedral 
of Notre Dame de Paris, the wooden midshipman and the 
railroad train in Dombey and Son. Animals and super- 
natural beings are given a more immediate human interest 
than is characteristic of painting and sculpture. The same 
tendency appears in the treatment of supernatural places 
and objects. The inferno of Quevedo's Suenos is even 
more human than that of the Divine Comedy ; the Holy 
Grail of Morte d'Arthur is the goal of a human, not an 
angelic search. 

Psychological use of the time-sense has just been noted. Its social 
significance in the novel is indicated by the frequent reference to the 
ecclesiastical and secular calendars. It is not an accident, from the 



THE SETTINGS 87 

artistic standpoint, that Paul Dombey dies on Sunday, Kielland's poor 
waif Elsie on Christmas Eve ; or that Eppie comes to Silas on New 
Year's Eve. In Pride and Prejudice the sense of time is distinctly 
social rather than individual. The endeavor of Robinson Crusoe to 
keep the world's calendar during his exile is one of the many effects of 
a strong social sense in Defoe and his period. 

72. Author and Dramatis Person®. — In the third-person 
novel the more elaborate settings are commonly given by 
the author. The generalized views of social environment 
in Silas Marner belong entirely to George Eliot — no char- 
acter in the novel could originate them. In the novel of 
dramatic form such descriptions are either eliminated ; or 
become artificial, unless justified by the situation of the 
characters. 

Robinson Crusoe's itemized account of his island environment is 
perhaps justified by the nature and situation of the man. Jane Austen 
shows her keen dramatic sense by omitting description of the surround- 
ings in which Darcy becomes engaged to Elizabeth — u There was too 
much to be thought, and felt, and said, for attention to other objects." 

The pathetic fallacy may have a dramatic value and truth. It is 
probable that a Carker (Dombey and Son) fleeing from human ven- 
geance may feel that nature also is his enemy ; that a youthful lover, 
like the hero of Pepita Jimenez, may feel that Nature in her springtide 
mood sympathizes with his own erotic passion. But when Thomas 
Hardy gives his personal impression that nature is ironically hostile to 
man's moral ideals, he lyricizes. One learns something about Thomas 
Hardy, but, very possibly, not much of nature or even of the charac- 
ters of the novel. 

Except in pure romance, the allegorical, symbolical, and supernatural 
interpretation of environment is usually more or less dramatized, as in 
Mrs. RadclifFe, Scott, Hawthorne, and Turgenieff. Often such interpre- 
tation is a sign of partially morbid condition in the character. The 
river and boat of Paul Dombey's imagination, and Silas Marners asso- 
ciation of Eppie's hair with his lost gold are fragmentary examples. 
The allegorical element in Robinson Crusoe, whether an afterthought 
or not, is explained only in the Third Part. 



88 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

73. Distribution. — In completely developed scenes, the 
settings usually appear in distinct masses, in part; but 
their full value is generally realized only by bringing to- 
gether the points scattered through many chapters. 

Many important points in the setting of Paul Dombey's death (Chap- 
ter XVI) are given before and after the event itself. From Chapter XV 
one learns that it occurred on a bright Sunday; from Chapter XIV 
that it was after the 17th of June : one must get the general picture of 
the neighborhood, the house, and the room, from several chapters. 

The settings at the principal turning-points of the plot 
are naturally of special interest. At the beginning, in 
particular, time and place are often given separate para- 
graphs. This method of opening a novel may indicate the 
general realistic emphasis on milieu, as in Balzac. 

Several points regarding the initial, climactic, and catastrophic set- 
tings of Silas Marner and Pride and Prejudice have already been given. 
A few others may be added, to show the contrast between the two 
works. 

Silas Marner. Initial. — The first two chapters are devoted largely 
to settings ; the development being from the more general to the more 
specific. The particular place setting which is to be used in climax 
and catastrophe — the weaver's cottage — is introduced very early. 
Lantern Yard and the Red House are also to appear in later scenes. 
The emphasis on general social circumstances is greater than in Pride 
and Prejudice, and is characteristic of the wider social philosophy of 
George Eliot. The very slight mention of the state of war is probably 
dramatic — the international struggle being less significant to the people 
of Raveloe than their own local affairs. 

Climactic. — This New Year's Eve is highly individualized in the 
minds of Silas, Godfrey, and Molly, even apart from the specific inci- 
dent of the climax. The treatment of landscape and the weather is 
almost symbolical. The interior of the cottage is not only described 
in considerable detail, but it has permanent meaning in the lives of 
Silas, Eppie, Godfrey, Dunstan, Mrs. Winthrop, Aaron, Macey — it is 
a unifying setting. 



THE SETTINGS 89 

Catastrophic. — The Sunday evening is well individualized. In tem- 
poral, spatial, and circumstantial settings there are definite reminiscences 
of the climax. 

Pride and Prejudice. Initial. — The action begins at once, with 
a fairly rapid movement. The omission of detailed settings is charac- 
teristic of the entire novel. The reader does not know directly the 
year or season or part of England in which the story opens. 

Climactic. — The time is a late hour of an April evening. The state 
of the weather is only implied. The day has no significance apart 
from the specific incident. The place setting is the parlor at Hunsford, 
which has no particular meaning for the reader or the characters. 

Catastrophic. — Darcy's successful proposal occurs on a September 
morning, in the neighborhood of the Bennet home. That is about all 
one knows of time and place. The circumstantial setting must be 
gathered largely from preceding and following chapters. 

74. Further Economy. — In general, settings with special 
artistic quality are either in definite contrast or agreement 
with their incidents. Sharp contrast is a favorite method 
with both the romancer and the humorist. 

Hawthorne uses the cheerful morning as a background for tragic 
death, with striking effect, in The House of the Seven Gables and in 
Ethan Brand. Humorous contrast between the real setting and its 
interpretation by a character is well exemplified in Don Quixote, Sir 
Launcelot Greaves, and in the Roman camp of the Antiquary's imagi- 
nation. 

Effects are often gained by a conscious inversion of con- 
ventional settings. 

" The morning of Friday was as serene and beautiful as if no pleas- 
ure party had been intended, and that is a rare event, whether in novel- 
writing or real life." (The Antiquary, Chapter XVII.) 

The action and reaction between settings and characters 
is a complex matter, and has already been noticed more 
than once. The character may not only interpret his envi- 
ronment ; he may to no small extent make it, as notably in 
Robinson Crusoe. Pessimistic realism, however, prefers 



90 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

to portray human nature as the * slave of circumstances. y 
In novels of any school, the same details often serve as 
setting and as motivation. The storm in the Antiquary, 
Chapter VII, is not only a fine background for the tragic 
incident, but is the direct cause of it. 

Repetition of specific place settings, with contrasted or 
similar incidents, is often used with more definite single 
effects than in the examples given above from Silas 
Marner. 

The effect is one of tragic pathos in the "let him remember it in 
that room, years to come ! " of Dombey and Son. (Chapters XVIII 
and LIX.) Trollope, in Barchester Towers, and Hardy, in A Pair of 
Blue Eyes, describe, with ironical effect, a heroine wooed by two lovers, 
at different times, but in exactly the same spot. 



CHAPTER V 
THE DRAMATIS PERSONS 

75. Composition. — A list of the dramatis personae, for a 
drama, epic, or novel, will vary according to the interpreta- 
tion of the term and the degree of analysis desired. If in 
the drama, appearance on the stage is the basis of inclu- 
sion, some persons of considerable importance in the plot 
will generally be omitted. Claribel and Sycorax, for exam- 
ple, are both of definite value in the plot-development of 
The Tempest. In the novel, the frequent use of secondary 
narrative, as distinct from presented action, introduces 
many characters who would not appear on the stage in a 
dramatization. 

In addition to truly individualized characters, a novel al- 
ways includes many persons with little more than numeri- 
cal identity — whether speaking, present without speech, 
or given a mere reference. In the remote background 
are persons merely implied, though some of them may 
have been clearly conceived by the novelist In an inten- 
sive imaginative study, one could scarcely fail to raise some 
question concerning the mother of Wickham, in Pride and 
Prejudice; or the father of the hero and the parents of 
Molly Cass, in Silas Marner. 

The author himself is a dramatis persona if he has an 
organic part in the action as a whole, either in propria per- 
sona, or in a fictitious disguise which preserves his real 
identity. 

91 



92 



THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 



In fictions of the type of Smollett's Adventures of an Atom, a per- 
sonified object is technically the central figure of the action. In Notre 
Dame de Paris, the cathedral itself has been called, imaginatively, the 
real hero. In many medieval and some modern stories, an animal plays 
a similar r61e. Supernatural beings and personified abstractions be- 
come true dramatis personam, in romance, whenever they have a genuine 
function as individuals in the unity of the illusion. " Anxiety, 1 ' in Silas 
Marner, serves merely in a figure of speech ; but " Despair " is one of 
the real characters in Pilgrim's Progress. 

76. Number. — The absolute number of dramatis per- 
sons is of great importance in determining the social area 
of the novel, and the degree of complexity in its action. 
The number relative to length of composition affects par- 
ticularly the rapidity of action, the degree of individualiza- 
tion, and the reader's sense of sustained intimacy with the 
characters. In a way, there is decided contrast between 
the sociological ideal of the novel, demanding an extensive 
" exhibition " of varied types, and the psychological ideal, 
intent on profound study of the individual. 

The epic breadth resulting from a large dramatis personae with little 
individualization is exemplified in The Plague Year and I Promessi 
Sposi. The former fiction contains about 165 persons with numerical 
identity, of whom only 16 are given individual names. In the latter 
work the corresponding numbers are 150 and 33. 



Examples 


. (Individualized characters.) 








Speaking 


Present 


Reference 


Total 


The Gold-bug . 


• 3 


2 


3 


8 


The Ambitious Guest . 


. 6 


6 


3 


15 


Master and Man . 


. 11 


1 


6 


18 


Paul and Virginia 


. 12 


4 


12 


28 


Silas Marner 


. 28 


10 


40 


78 


Pride and Prejudice 


. 26 


25 


30 


81 


Ivanhoe 


. 52 


7i 


30 


153 



For the Waverley Novels, 1 some 1700 characters are enumerated. 



1 Library edition; Edinburgh, 1853. 



THE DRAMATIS PERSONS 



93 



The above data, with some others, give roughly a proportion of 30 
to 40 individuals present in the action, whether speaking or not, to 
100,000 words. 

77. Chapter Distribution. — A table showing the distri- 
bution of the principal characters according to chapters, if 
made early in the examination of the novel, is often helpful 
as a basis for further study of individuals and groups. Such 
a scheme gives a condensed list of dramatis personae ; the 
structural history of individuals, in outline; indicates the 
consecutive grouping, and serves to recall the general 
significance of each chapter. 

In the following example only the most important characters are 
noted. " S " indicates speech ; " P," presence ; " R," reference. 

Silas Marker 



Chapter 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


II 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


*7 


18 


19 


20 


21 


Con. 


Silas 
Godfrey 
Eppie . 
Dunstan 
Nancy . 
Macey . 
Mrs. Winth 
Wm. Dane 


rop 


S 

T 


p 


T 

R 


R 
R 

"S 


p 

R 


][ 


s 


pT 

R 

s 


pT 

R 


s 
s 

R 

s 


"s 

R 

s 
s 


p 

R 

s 


8 

S 

s 

R 

S 

][ 


s 
"s 

R 

s 


p" 

~R 

rT 


s 
p 

s 

p" 

R 

s 

R 


R 
S 
R 

T 
— 


R 
S 
R 
R 

S 


S 

s 
s 

R 


R 

S 
R 
R 

S 


s 
"s" 


P 
R 

s 

"P" 

s 
s 



78. Grouping in General. — The method of grouping and 
the emphasis on the different groups will depend on the 
individual novel and the particular purpose with which it 
is studied. Certain groups, of special importance in techni- 
cal analysis, are determined by the structure itself ; others 
are defined or suggested by the author's comment; still 
others may be perceived or fashioned by the critic. 

A group may be a real ensemble, composed of persons 
assembled in some definite, limited space and time, as in 



94 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Chapter VI of Silas Marner. While these conditions do 
not necessarily imply group-consciousness, they are likely 
to arouse and intensify it. Such a group may be treated 
as a spatial picture, with a descriptive interest in its phys- 
ical form ; or as a moral unity, with the emphasis on social 
psychology. There is sometimes an imaginative, even 
symbolical tendency to consider the entire group as one 
person, as in the treatment of city mobs or armies by such 
modern novelists as Hugo, Balzac, and Zola. 

Other groups, such as all the whites or all the Indians 
in The Last of the Mohicans, are based on common 
qualities rather than common time and place; and in 
many cases a clear sense of group-unity may exist only in 
the mind of author or reader. 

A group may be composed of a definite number of 
persons (symbolized by G-4, G-5, etc.) or of an indefinite 
number (G-n). Indefinite groups of a large number of 
persons — masses — are characteristic of epic quality, and 
are almost necessary to give a large social background in 
historical fiction. 

In The Plague Year there are masses of servants, surgeons, aldermen, 
nurses, refugees, etc. In I Promessi Sposi there are more objective, 
ensemble groups of soldiers, worshippers, the plague-stricken, etc. In 
very many of the Waverley Novels, indeterminate groups, — such as 
archers, knights, Highlanders, gypsies, crusaders, — more significant as 
masses than as composed of individuals, increase the epic breadth and 
dignity of the social picture. 

79. Successive Groups. — The scheme suggested in Sec- 
tion 77 will furnish starting-points for a more careful 
study of the groups in individual episodes, scenes, events, 
and incidents. On this basis, characters may be described 
as episodic (semi-episodic) and persistent; the episodic 
being more accurately noted as initial, central (climactic), 



THE DRAMATIS PERSONS 95 

final (catastrophic), etc. Even in the loosest types of plot 
there are nearly always one or more persistent characters. 
Aside from such unifying persons, in the episodic plot, in 
autobiographical fictions, and adventure and picaresque 
forms in general, the group at any stage of the action may 
be almost independent of the others. In all types of novel, 
well-marked episodic groups are common. Such groups 
are especially clear in intercalated narrative; a frequent 
structural form in most early romance, in Cervantes, Le 
Sage, Fielding, Smollett and their disciples. The narrator 
of these intercalations himself is sometimes an episodic 
character; in closer economy, persistent. 

In Robinson Crusoe, even Friday is only an episodic (central) char- 
acter. There are quite independent groups in Brazil, Madagascar, 
Asia, as well as on the island. In Silas Marner, the most important 
independent groups are found in the initial Lantern Yard episode, and 
in Chapters VI-VII. None of the characters in these two groups have 
an important appearance elsewhere, except Macey, a semi-persistent 
character, and the hero himself. Eppie is a central-final character. In 
Pride and Prejudice, Colonel Fitzwilliam is one of the few distinctly 
episodic persons of any importance. He partly determines the general 
complexion of the group at Hunsford. 

The initial, climactic, and catastrophic groups are obvi- 
ously of great value in the study of the plot, and they are 
frequently very clearly defined. They are rarely of exact 
identity, even in economic plots. In general tendency, 
climactic groups are psychological, concentrating the atten- 
tion on a relatively small number of individuals and their 
inner life ; catastrophic groups are often broader, gather- 
ing together all the principal characters of the plot, and 
leaving a general impression of social atmosphere. These 
tendencies are fairly well exemplified in Silas Marner and 
Pride and Prejudice. There are many exceptions; some 
notable tragic effects being gained by leaving the reader 



96 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

in the presence of isolated individuality at the close of the 
plot. 

A somewhat artificial catastrophic ensemble of an old-fashioned type 
is found in the Sir Roger de Coverley papers. The introduction of new 
characters near the conclusion may often have a specific aesthetic effect. 
In the Shakespearian tragedy, this method gives a sense of relief, and 
suggests the continuous vigor of social life in the face of many indi- 
vidual calamities. In the last twenty-five pages of The Plague Year, 
Defoe introduces nine new individuals, but they are not important as 
individuals — the populace of the city of London is the real catastrophic 
hero. 

80. Foreground, Middleground, and Background Charac- 
ters. — The terms " foreground/ ' " middleground, ,, and 
11 background/' borrowed from the spatial art of painting, 
apply to plot-literature only by way of a somewhat loose an- 
alogy. A foreground character is one that has relatively a 
great intensity, complexity, or variety of meaning, and as a 
result seems most immediately before the reader. There is 
perhaps no single technical test to determine the position 
of a character in the general perspective of values. All 
foreground characters are usually given considerable 
speech, in the novel; but in Pride and Prejudice, Miss 
Darcy, without recorded utterance, is far more important 
than " a young Lucas/' or Mrs. Hill, who are incidentally 
quoted. In a sense, the catastrophe is the foreground of 
a novel, so far as a single reading is concerned. The con- 
clusion is the emphatic position, the one with the most 
warmth, immediacy, as the reader leaves the composition. 
According to the theory of Poe, the author's conception of 
a plot should originate with the catastrophe, which should 
then determine the whole perspective. 

In a painting, the human figures may be concentrated 
in any one of the three positions, the other two being occu- 



THE DRAMATIS PERSONS 97 

pied by works of nature or of art. In certain types of so- 
called short stories, nature, or an abstract idea, or a lyrical 
mood, rather than a character, may in effect dominate the 
foreground. In the romance of action, it may be events 
rather than persons that come nearest to the reader. In 
the representative novel, the foreground is given to highly 
individualized characters, the background to groups or to 
individuals whose significance lies in their group relations. 
In the distinctively social novel, including some historical 
fictions, novels of manners, and novels of social psychology, 
the artist may devote even the foreground to the portrayal 
of groups. In The Plague Year, though written in a per- 
sistent first-person form, probably to most readers the 
mass of London inhabitants is more immediate, complex, 
and intense than the fictitious writer. 

In all plot-literature, the richness and stability of the 
illusion depend to a considerable extent on a gradual shad- 
ing in the value of the characters — on a complex variety 
in the degrees of intimacy established between them and 
the reader. In our actual experience, of the extended 
scope which the novel imitates, there are persons of every 
grade of actuality, from the friend more real than self to 
the mere nominis umbra. 

In Silas Marner, the hero himself is clearly the chief foreground 
character ; Godfrey and Eppie being others, though the last is not even 
suggested until the climactic chapter. Mrs. Winthrop and Nancy are 
among the middleground figures, while in the remote background 
are the boys and girls of Raveloe, the factory hands of Lantern Yard, 
Jinny Oates, the pedler, and many other individuals. 

81. Central Characters. — A character or characters may 
be central mainly as a matter of plot-function, their service 
being to unify all the incidents of the action ; or central in 
a deeper psychological or sociological manner, their value 



98 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

determining that of all other individuals and groups. Of 
course the two functions may be combined ; and in either, 
the degrees of centrality are various. 

Clear examples of a single central character are often found in auto- 
biographical fictions ; as in Robinson Crusoe, The Vicar of Wakefield, 
and David Copperfield. In Paul and Virginia, the first-person form 
serves mainly as an enveloping frame ; in The Plague Year the first- 
person narrator aids in unifying the rather diffuse incidents of the 
action, and gives greater force to the individuality of the other 
characters. The title often suggests a single central character with 
sufficient accuracy, as in The Man of Feeling, Tom Jones, Eugenie 
Grandet; but in other cases, the "hero" in a traditional sense does 
not appear in the title r61e. In The Antiquary, while Oldenbuck is near 
the focus of interest, Lovell corresponds more nearly to the conventional 
hero. A central character may be so conceived and presented that his 
significance lies rather in typical than in individual qualities. Lermon- 
toff writes of his Contemporary Hero, i My hero is the portrait of a 
generation, not of an individual.' This statement is almost equally 
true of some of the chief characters of Turgenieff. 

Two central characters may be given approximately the 
same degree of value by the method of contrast, as in 
Master and Man or Sense and Sensibility. In the love- 
story of novelistic or dramatic form, the hero and hero- 
ine are sometimes of equal value ; sometimes one or 
the other definitely predominates. In Jane Austen the 
heroine is always more central than the hero ; and this 
is clearly the case in As You Like It and Romeo and 
Juliet. 

In not a few notable fictions, as suggested in the pre- 
ceding section, a group rather than individuals as such, is in 
all but a technical sense, the real center of value. All in 
all, the lovers of I Promessi Sposi are less significant in the 
mind of author and reader than the masses of ecclesiastical, 
martial, and municipal figures. Bulwer Lytton's son says 



THE DRAMATIS PERSONS 99 

with much truth, the real hero of The Parisians is " the 
Parisian Society of Imperial and Democratic France." 

82. Association of Characters. — Except in autobiographi- 
cal fiction, the dramatis personse are rarely all acquainted 
with the chief central character ; still more rarely are they 
all mutually acquainted. In any case, the various degrees 
of intimacy are distinct enough to serve as bases for impor- 
tant groupings. Even prominent characters may be igno- 
rant of their mutual existence. Silas Marner must always 
remember William Dane and Dunstan Cass as the two 
individuals who have most grievously injured him, but 
these two men pass through life, each absolutely unknown 
to the other. 

In Pride and Prejudice there is in general a fine interweaving of char- 
acters, but there are several interesting exceptions. Miss Darcy, for ex- 
ample, meets none of the Bennets except Elizabeth ; nor in the course of 
the directly presented action does she meet Wickham, though their 
relations offer material for a very dramatic interview. In this respect the 
drama is characteristically more compact than the loose epic-like struc- 
ture of the novel. Hamlet is on the stage, alive, with all of the indi- 
vidually named characters except Reynaldo, Francisco, and Fortinbras. 
Rosalind, however, so far as recorded, never hears of the old servant 
who is so faithful to her lover. 

The grouping of the dramatis personae as to mutual 
acquaintance may be tabulated in various ways. In the 
following arrangement for the chief characters of Silas 
Marner, each person of any group is at least once pre- 
sented with each other person of that group. 



I 


II 


III 


IV 


V 


Silas 


Silas 


Silas 








Godfrey 


Godfrey 


Godfrey 






Eppie 


Eppie 




Eppie 


William Dane 


The Squire 
Nancy 


Mrs. Winthrop 
Aaron 
Macey 


Dunstan 


Molly (living) 



100 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

One of the most objective, dramatic, and distinctly struc- 
tural groupings of the novel is the dialogic. Except in duos 
and trios exact repetition of any group is uncommon. As 
in real life, the omission or addition of a single character, 
even in groups of some [size, may essentially change the 
form and substance of the conversation. 

Duos and trios predominate in The Last of the Mohicans. The 
following are four of the most important conversational groups. 
Heyward is present in all; the Indian element colors three of them. 
Chingachgook, Hawkeye, Heyward, Alice Munro (Chapter XIII) ; 
Chingachgook, Hawkeye, Heyward, Munro, Uncas (Chapter XVIII) ; 
David Gamut, Hawkeye, Heyward, Munro (Chapter XXII) ; Heyward, 
Magua, Cora Munro, Tamemund, Uncas (Chapter XXX). In Ivanhoe 
the dialogic groups are in general larger and at the same time more 
compact in their structure than in Cooper. Good examples are found 
in Chapter XXVII — Ambrose, Athelstane, Bois-Guilbert, De Bracy, 
Front-de-Boeuf, Giles, Wamba ; and Chapter XXXIII — Friar Tuck, 
Isaac, The Prior, Robin Hood, his " lieutenant," " one of the outlaws," 
the band (in concerted speech) . 

Groups of great importance in the study of characteriza- 
tion and of subject-matter are based on personal influence. 
Many characters are decidedly either active or passive in 
the general perspective of the plot. According to Goethe's 
theory, the hero of a drama is primarily active, the hero of 
a novel primarily passive. In fiction as in life, great depth 
and great breadth of influence are rarely combined. The 
more profound character forces of any individual are limited 
to a comparatively small circle of dramatis persons, or 
become more shallow as they reach the outer circles. A 
character may exist, in fiction, mainly to influence other 
characters, directly or indirectly, as in the conventional plot- 
functions of the dens ex machina and dramatic providence. 

William Dane has no life of his own, apart from his relation to Silas 
Marner, as the novelist presents him. A father or mother may exist, 



THE DRAMATIS PERSONS IOI 

artistically, for the sake of influencing a child. (See Riemann's treat- 
ment of the motif oi " Der Tod des Vaters " ; and compare the opening 
of Soil und Haben.) 

In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Darcy are far more influen- 
tial than the other pair of lovers. In Silas Marner, so far as mutual 
influence is concerned, Macey, the Squire, Dunstan, and others are quite 
outside the compact circle composed of Silas, Godfrey, Nancy, Eppie, 
and Mrs. Winthrop. On the whole, Silas himself exemplifies quite 
clearly the theory of Goethe given above. 

83. Relation to the Author. — Modern realistic theory- 
has frequently insisted that the novelist should be abso- 
lutely impartial, objective, in reference to his characters ; 
but this is a doctrine very rarely represented in practise. 
A mind sufficiently interested in individuals to write a novel 
does not sincerely value all individuals alike ; and the pre- 
tence to impartiality often produces the impression of a 
general hostility rather than artistic objectivity. Brune- 
tiere 1 distinguishes the realism of French fiction, as repre- 
sented by Flaubert, with its scorn for the humble lives it 
portrays, from English realism, as represented by George 
Eliot, with its profoundly sympathetic attitude toward the 
same type of character. Even Jane Austen reveals clearly 
her personal preferences for certain characters of her crea- 
tion, and personal dislike for others. 

Smollett and other eighteenth century writers found in 
the novel an opportunity to display personal spite or per- 
sonal approval of real contemporaries, slightly disguised 
in the fiction. Newman personally sympathizes with the 
early Christian converts, in Callista. Literary, national, 
or racial prejudice often leaves a clear stamp on charac- 
terization, even in novels of a general realistic quality. The 
novelist may indicate that he opposes certain literary or 

1 Roman Naturalist e, 1893, P* 2 3°» 



102 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

social conventions by presenting characters in a spirit of 
burlesque or caricature. 

Examples of types so treated are some of the pastoral figures of 
Sidney's Arcadia, the knight of chivalry in Don Quixote, the prude in 
Joseph Andrews, the Euphuist in The Monastery. In Soil und Haben, 
the author shows German prejudice against the Pole and the Jew ; in 
Westward Ho!, Kingsley reveals English Protestant dislike for the 
Spanish Jesuit. 

The partial identification of the author with a character 
has been noticed in Section 58. Sometimes it is the prin- 
cipal character, as in The Vicar of Wakefield, David Cop- 
perfield, Pride and Prejudice; sometimes a less central 
personality, as in Anna Karenina. A single character may- 
embody not merely the general Weltanschauung of the 
author, but his more specific temporary problems or epi- 
sodes of experience ; as in Oroonoko, Werther, The Pirate, 
Corinne, Newman's Loss and Gain, War and Peace. 

A certain character may intermediate, as expositor or as one of 
kindred temperament or experience, between the author and the reader. 
In fictions of specially difficult illusion, particularly in the realm of the 
supernatural, a character is often found whose chief function is to 
" rationalize " the improbable. The management of such functions is 
one of the excellencies in Defoe's technic. Examples are also found 
in Peter Wilkins, Gulliver's Travels, Frankenstein, and Utopia. 
In much the same way, the intensity of tragedy may be mediated 
through a comparatively commonplace and unemotional character. 

Frequently, all the principal characters may be clearly 
grouped with reference to the main purpose or theme of 
the novel. 

84. Reality and Ideality. —As all artistic characterization 
is an imaginative process, all the characters of a novel are 
more or less ideal ; but the degrees of ideality may often 
be distinct enough to serve as a basis for important group- 



THE DRAMATIS PERSONS 103 

ings. " Real" characters, for the present purpose, are those 
that represent, essentially, specific individuals or groups 
from actual life, historical or contemporaneous. In the 
case of contemporary models the reader may not be able 
to discover the real situation from the internal evidence of 
the novel. In giving his own method, Scott states a gen- 
eral practise in modeling from real life : " I have always 
studied to generalize the portraits, so that they should still 
seem, on the whole, the productions of fancy, though pos- 
sessing some resemblance to real individuals." 1 Many 
novelists have vigorously affirmed that characters supposed 
by captious readers to be " copied " from existing indi- 
viduals, were either purely imaginary, or composites studied 
from several models. 

In historical fiction, in the narrow sense, the grouping 
of the dramatis personae into historical, semi-historical, 
(typically historical), and non-historical individuals is always 
possible and usually illuminative. The nature of historical 
romance, in one way, and the nature of historical real- 
ism, in another, determine that the majority of historical 
individuals elaborately presented should be persons of 
prominent external activity — soldiers, statesmen, and 
reformers, rather than men of a predominant inner life. 
Purely imaginary individuals may be historical in type, or 
may be given an historical quality in the illusion by inti- 
mate association with well-known real characters. Raphael 
Hythloday, in Utopia, is a follower of Amerigo Vespucci : 
among the dramatis personae of Westward Ho ! are a com- 
panion of Pizarro and a grandson of De Soto. 

Indeterminate groups, except in general outline, must always be 
largely idealized, for history preserves no record of their individual 
members, or of their actions in minute detail. 

1 Introduction of 1827 to Chronicles of the Canongate. 



104 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Different types of historical fiction, with corresponding 
theories, depend on the distribution of historical, semi-his- 
torical, and non-historical characters as to foreground, 
middleground, and background. Compare, for example, 
the theories and practise of Scott, Vigny, Manzoni, Dumas, 
and Tolstoi. 

In Ivanhoe, the chief foreground figures are at most only typically 
historical; King John and King Richard, with the semi-legendary 
Robin Hood, may perhaps be considered as middleground characters. 
In Kenilworth, Leicester and Queen Elizabeth; in The Talisman, 
King Richard, approach the advanced foreground position. In Cinq- 
Mars, both the Cardinal and the young hero are among the most prom- 
inent persons. Among the historical characters of I Promessi Sposi 
are Cardinal Borromeo, Charles II, Richelieu, Philip II, and Wallenstein, 
but none of these are foreground figures, from a structural point of view. 
This romance, like many other historical'fictions, presents a large num- 
ber of indeterminate, semi-historical groups in the middleground or 
background. In Quo Vadis, though Nero, Petronius, Saint Peter, and 
other historical individuals are prominent, the hero and heroine are both 
imaginary. 

85. Individuals and Types. — Every character, in fic- 
tion as elsewhere, may be primarily considered as an in- 
dividual, as representative of larger or smaller groups of 
human beings, or as an embodiment of an abstract idea. In 
some novels an initial grouping of dramatis personae on this 
basis may be of advantage. A deeper study of the matter 
belongs more properly under characterization. 

Any character dominated by a single quality, habit, or passion tends 
to become typical. Typification in the direction of caricature is found 
in many novels of a general realistic stamp. Even so sturdy a realist as 
Trollope introduces characters typically named — for example, Mr. 
Popular Sentiment and Dr. Persistent Anti-Cant — following the fashion 
especially prominent in the Jonsonian comedy of humors, and the 
eighteenth century English comedy of manners. Such characters, 
whether named in this manner or not, are notably frequent in Dickens, 
and in the great humorists and satirists generally. 



THE DRAMATIS PERSONS 105 

Allegorical and symbolical characters are appropriate in 
certain species of romance. They sometimes appear even 
in the heart of a realistic novel, but tend to weaken or 
destroy the unity of realistic illusion. The presence of 
Mignon, the religious teachers, and other allegorical figures 
in Wilhelm Meister makes it difficult for the average reader 
to accept the reality of the plot as a whole. The same 
confusion may result from a combination of realistic char- 
acters with caricatures, as in Sidney's Arcadia. In The 
Midsummer Night's Dream there is such intricate inter- 
weaving of realism, caricature, and symbolism, that the 
whole effect can be unified only in the realm of the fantastic. 

86. Social Groups. — Important in most novels, social 
grouping of the dramatis personae has a specialized value 
in many types of fiction — the picaresque romance, the 
pastoral romance, the novel of manners, and the novel of 
social psychology, for example. The analysis is closely 
connected with the study of " human life," under subject- 
matter, but it also has its relations to aesthetic form. In 
many novels, the guiding principle in social grouping is 
artistic contrast ; in others there is more delicate shading 
from group to group. Sharp contrast is characteristic of 
romanticism ; an intricate interweaving, ceteris paribus, is 
more realistic. The canon of "epic totality" demands 
that every generic group of human society be represented. 

For an elaborate technical classification, one must go 
to the scientific sociologist; but a simple conception of 
the classes of society is a matter of general culture, and a 
necessity for any thorough study of plot-literature. Groups 
may be based upon sex, family relation, social rank, occu- 
pation, religion, etc. The novel which fully embodies the 
epic tradition includes characters of several races or nation- 
alities, with some conscious study of the qualities of these 



106 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

massive groups. Balzac as, in some sense, a scientific 
student of social psychology, arranges the Comedie Hu- 
maine in such manner as to indicate clearly a rational 
analysis of society. His modern, secular classification 
offers an interesting contrast to the groupings of Dante's 
dramatis personae, made largely on the basis of medieval 
theology. 

The groups according to sex, like several others, might 
be considered as either sociological or psychological. 
In certain types of fiction, the number of individualized 
men naturally far exceeds that of women. This is true of 
historical romance, and of novels of action, especially of a 
martial quality. In novels in which love is a primary 
matter, and in the novel of manners, the relation may be 
inverted, or a numerical equality approached. Certain 
theories of the novel, those which emphasize its function 
in portraying modern social complexity, and in studying 
the inner life of the emotions, for instance, have a specific 
bearing on the matter. Again, the historical relations of 
men and women as novelists and as novel-readers, might 
be discussed in this connection. 

In Ivanhoe there are 47 speaking men ; 5 speaking women. (The 
concerted speeches also are mainly masculine.) In Silas Marner, 
the corresponding numbers are 20 and 8. Pride and Prejudice, with 
its 11 speaking men and 15 speaking women, illustrates the feminine 
quality of Miss Austen's experience, her realistic fidelity to that experi- 
ence, and the tendency of the typical novel of manners. 

In many novels the family relations of the dramatis personae are 
intricate enough to demand special examination. This may be true 
of the family saga, or of historical romances, as it is of Shakespeare's 
English historical plays. Even in Silas Marner, Pride and Prejudice, 
Anna Karenina, and other modern fictions of local societies, the reader 
is not likely to have a complete and clear conception of these relations 
without careful attention. In extensive studies of family traits, as in 
the Rougon-Macquart series, the matter is of deeper importance. 



THE DRAMATIS PERSONS 107 

A good example of aesthetic social grouping is found in pastoral 
fiction. This generally contains well-marked groups of permanent, 
genuine pastoral characters, contrasted with groups of courtly aristo- 
crats, pastoral to some degree, for the nonce. There may also be non- 
pastoral groups ; or a number of pastoral figures in burlesque, as in 
Sidney's Arcadia and As You Like It. 

87. Psychological Groups. — The critic may easily dis- 
cover in any novel fairly definite groups of dramatis 
personae based on salient common mental and moral 
qualities. A conscious elaboration of this analysis on the 
part of the author belongs mainly to modern fiction, and 
particularly to the "psychological novel" of the realistic and 
naturalistic schools. Such groups may be considered in 
their social aspects, or as psychological, in a more exact 
sense. In some naturalistic works, in which the psychology 
rests on physiology, the real interest is biological rather 
than social, in the ordinary meaning of the word. 

Characters may be grouped according to age, tempera- 
ment, normal or abnormal condition, types of mentality, 
etc. Senior gave some very interesting and illuminative 
discussion of this matter. His classification into * simple, 
mixed, and inconsistent ' characters, 1 is worthy of careful 
study. Another method of analysis might distinguish 
sensational, emotional, intellectual, moral, and religious 
natures. Further technical classification may be adapted 
from sociological or psychological treatises. 

Professor Giddings (Inductive Sociology) gives as " types of dis- 
position," " aggressive, instigative, domineering, creative " ; as " types 
of character, 1 ' " forceful, convivial, austere, rationally conscientious " ; 
"types of mind," "ideo-motor, ideo-emotional, dogmatic-emotional, 
critical-intellectual." While this nomenclature has been ridiculed by 
the layman, it is not without practical suggestive value in the close 
analysis of the psychological novel. 

1 Essays on Fiction, p. 358 ff. 



108 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

A most important distinction, in respect to novelistic form 
as well as subject-matter, is that between static and develop- 
ing characters. One very significant theory makes the novel 
preeminently a study of the development of individual 
character. This idea might serve as a basis for a valuable 
grouping of all the dramatis personae. In most novels 
there are many persons who undergo no essential change 
of nature in the course of the action. 

Characters of very pronounced mental or moral abnormality are 
usually treated as individuals rather than in groups; but the latter 
method is not unknown in novels of social psychology. Superstition, 
fanaticism, the delirium of panic, mob-spirit, the fever of battle, the 
selfishness or death-like lassitude of populations stricken by pestilence 
or famine, — these are among the most intense forms of social conscious- 
ness the novelist is called upon to portray. In the domain of individual 
psychology, Scott made an original study of " double-consciousness " 
(his own term) in Noma, of The Pirate ; giving medical authority for 
his conception, long before Zola applied the doctrines of Claude Bernard 
to the novel. 1 

1 See The Experimental Novel, 



CHAPTER VI 

CHARACTERIZATION 

88. Character and Characterization. — In a careful an- 
alysis, one may distinguish the character itself, the reader's 
conception of it, the author's conception, and his presen- 
tation. In a broad sense, the last three items belong to 
characterization ; but in strictly technical meaning, the 
term applies only to the presentation. 

Unless they represent actual persons, the characters of 
a novel exist, as individuals, only in the minds of author 
and reader; though in a figurative sense we call a char- 
acter " real " when it produces a distinct illusion of reality. 
Human beings are fashioned by nature, society, their own 
wills, and, according to orthodox thought, the supernatural : 
the characters of fiction are fashioned by the artistic imagi- 
nation. Association with some fictitious beings may cause 
a more vital experience than association with some real 
persons ; but a sane mind will not confuse the two forms 
of experience. Such common statements as that of 
Ruskin, " To my father . . . the characters of Shake- 
spearian comedy were all familiar personal friends/' * have 
great interest, but we recognize their figurative quality at 
once. The question whether fictitious individuals really 
exist as types may be suggestive for aesthetics, but seems 
to belong more properly to metaphysics. 

Even if the novelist reproduces the appearance, speech, 

1 Praeterita : Macugnaga. 
109 



110 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

or action of historical individuals in accurate detail, the 
total effect is imaginary, because of the large fictitious 
element in the environment. Some novelists have affirmed 
that a character once intensely conceived by the imagina- 
tion, seems to assume a volitional life of its own. This 
fact is important in the study of the aesthetic and psycho- 
logical aspects of the creative process, but it does not alter 
the scientific truth that the novelist is really the sole creator 
of his character. The novelist cannot evade the responsi- 
bility implied in Lanier's question : — 

" What the artist doeth, 
The Lord knoweth ; 
Knoweth the artist not ? " 1 

89. Novelistic Characterization. — Characterization is a 
process common to ordinary experience, several arts, biog- 
raphy, history, the lyric, and all forms of plot-literature. 
It has a fairly distinct mode for the novel, in a peculiar 
combination of points, if not in any one point. 

No other literary type shows, as a matter of history, a 
presentation of character in such " Detaildarstellung" * of 
environment, physical and social. Yet, in contrast with 
the stage drama, the novel can at will describe the inner 
elements of character without any accompanying physical 
imagery. 

In no other form of art are the relations of direct and 
indirect characterization so intricate. 

The combination of intensive and extensive study of 
individual character is most striking in the novel. Psycho- 
logical analysis, in a strict sense, is more elaborate than in 
any other type of art. In the lyric, it may possibly be as 
intense and direct, but it cannot be as prolonged. The 

1 Individuality. 2 Baumgart : Handbuch der Poetik. 



CHARACTERIZATION 1 1 1 

gradual development of character, according to many 
critics, is the special function of the novel. 

These characteristics are partially explained by the great length of the 
novel, its facile interweaving of dramatic and non-dramatic form, and its 
use of prose. Other characteristics may be readily noted. 

In sculpture and painting there is the medium of a visible image of 
character ; in the stage drama, the medium of a visible and audible real 
person. In all forms of literature these sensuous values can only be 
suggested. 

90. Character Unfolding. — The scheme given in Section 
77 will indicate the first, intermediate, and final appear- 
ances of important characters, and the general environ- 
ment of each appearance. The main method of unfolding 
may be in mass or in solution ; usually there is a distinct 
combination of both methods. Tendency to mass the chief 
characterization at the principal turning-points of the plot 
may be designated as initial, climactic, and catastrophic 
unfolding. The prevailing method of modern realism is 
probably cumulative — a discovery of character by the 
gradually increasing momentum of items often trivial 
enough if taken separately. 

The first and last appearances have a certain inevitable 
emphasis. Some conventional methods of introducing 
characters are apparently modeled after the drama and 
epic. Initial soliloquy in the drama combines the physi- 
ognomy, pantomime, and speech. This formula is impos- 
sible in the novel, and the substitution of an initial physical 
description followed by speech often seems artificial and 
ineffective. A preliminary introduction may be given in 
the title, preface, or prologue. Abrupt introduction often 
produces the effect of romantic, even sensational, surprise, 
as to some degree in George Eliot's first mention of Eppie. 



112 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Riemann * has made a very interesting analysis of Goethe's 
methods of introducing characters. 

A study of the last appearance — the " dismissal" — may 
naturally be connected with the general study of catas- 
trophe (Section 52). Some characters slip out of the nar- 
rative so quietly one is scarcely aware of their absence. 
In general, in the modern novel, important characters are 
given a definite dismissal, though it may not be quite so 
formal as in early fiction. The hero and heroine are fre- 
quently last mentioned as still alive, and perhaps their 
future is sketched. The novelist often seems as reluctant 
to leave his favorite characters as the political orator is to 
close his argument. 

91. Appellation. — The names and other designations of 
a character may be realistic or romantic ; individualizing, 
or typical of nationality, historical period, occupation, tem- 
perament, etc. Occasionally — usually with romantic con- 
notation — an important character is designated as "the 
unknown " or "the unnamed." Minor characters are 
often indicated only by type, after the models of the 
herald of Greek drama, or the clown, servant, citizen of 
Shakespearian drama. The title of a novel frequently 
gives a suggestive appellation for the chief character, 
as in the Man of Feeling, Last of the Barons, the Wan- 
dering Jew. In early types of romance there may be 
repeated epithetical formulas, similar to those in epic 
poetry. 

Different aspects of the same character may be indicated by different 
designation. In Jack Wilton, the hero is variously known as "my 
young lad," "wise young Wilton," "King of the Drunkards," "King 
of the Pages," etc. A radical change of name, especially in romance, 
may denote pronounced change in the external or inner history of a 

1 Goethes Romantechnik : Die Einfiihrung der Personen. 



CHARACTERIZATION 1 1 3 

character. The career of Amadis of Gaul is so marked in part : in 
Euphues, the conversion of a character is emphasized by changing his 
name from Atheos to Theophilus. 

When these different names are distributed between the author and 
the dramatis personam, they may have considerable importance in dra- 
matic characterization. To George Eliot, her hero is generally " Silas " 
or "poor Silas," even when he is imagined as much older than herself; 
among the dramatis personam, he is " dad," " old Marner," " the miser," 
etc. The heroine of Pride and Prejudice is almost invariably " Eliza- 
beth n to her creator ; but to the other characters she is known as Eliza, 
Lizzie, Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and so on. 

92. Physiognomy. — The physical appearance may have 
a pictorial interest for its own sake, or it may be of great 
service in revealing the mental and moral nature. It is 
almost entirely through bodily phenomena that we become 
acquainted with character in real life, and the novelist 
often makes detailed and effective application of this truth. 

The physiognomy of an individual combines a nearly 
constant element, including stature, moulding of the fea- 
tures, color of eyes and hair, etc., with an element always 
changing according to physical and mental condition. 
Both elements are frequently given close attention in the 
novel ; the latter is of particular value in all genuine study 
of the dynamic relations of soul and body. 

It is comparatively easy to image and remember striking 
individual details of physiognomy, or general types of 
figure and face ; the middle ground is much less impres- 
sive. It is difficult for the average mind to retain a dis- 
tinct image, even of an intimate friend, for any considerable 
period, without the aid of actual presence or photographic 
suggestion. 

Again, the effect of a given bodily appearance depends 
much on the state of the observer himself. Strong moral 
idealism may dwell so intently on beauty of character that 



114 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

the physical defects which happen to accompany it disap- 
pear from consciousness. In Pippa Passes, the shoulders 
of Ottima are at one time fascinatingly beautiful to Sebald ; 
at another, terribly repulsive. In this sense, the Spense- 
rian conception that " soul is form and doth the body 
make " may be a truth of real experience. The spatial point 
of view also greatly modifies the impression of physical 
appearance. The first close observation of a face long 
familiar at a greater distance, is a revelation. Complexion, 
in particular, has a marvelous increase or decrease of value 
as the point of view changes. 

In the novel, these and similar u kinetic " aspects of physiognomy 
affect the author, the reader, and the dramatis personam. They may 
suggest the great difficulty, and hint at some of the better methods in 
artistic description of physical personality. In general, it seems better 
to leave much to the imagination and habit of observation in the reader. 
A fully itemized description is, in fact, usually one of the least success- 
ful methods of reaching realistic result. Defoe (in Colonel Jacque) thus 
defends a brief conventional summary : " It is a subject too surfeiting 
to entertain people with the beauty of a person they will never see." 

The novel rarely portrays the unclothed human body. This may 
be a serious limitation, so far as pictorial interest is concerned, but the 
loss to higher characterization seems trifling. The conventional nude 
portraits of the Elizabethan sonneteers and Herrick add little to our 
sense of mental and moral individuality. (Cf. Laokoon, V.) 

93. Costume and Physical Environment. — When one 
sees a friend for the first time in academic or ecclesiastical 
garb or in military uniform, the effect on one's general 
conception of the character is often surprisingly strong. 
Costume has its special values in the novel of manners, the 
romance of chivalry, historical romance, and other types of 
fiction. Disdainful criticism of Scott's attention to costume 
has perhaps underrated the significance of dress in historical 
and social characterization. But Scott is by no means the 



CHARACTERIZATION 1 1 5 

first to note its value. For familiar reasons, description of 
costume is very common in Elizabethan literature. 

In Jack Wilton there are several passages of striking and concrete 
description, in various connotation, like the following : " I had my feather 
in my cap as big as a flag in the foretop ; my French doublet . . . 
my long stock . . . my rapier pendant . . . my cape cloak of black 
cloth," etc. Defoe perhaps paid little attention to dress in general, but 
the island costume of Robinson Crusoe is given in significant detail. 

Change of costume sometimes indicates important change of situation 
or character, though Thoreau's suggestion that new garments should 
always mean moral renovation is not strictly observed. A familiar 
detail is the donning of masculine garments by a woman — romantic in 
Lodge's Rosalind ; realistic in e Defoe's Moll Flanders and Mrs. Chris- 
tian Davies. 

The photographer and portrait painter recognize the 
value of physical background in characterization. Such 
background has an increased value when selected or fash- 
ioned by the character himself. This and other vital rela- 
tions of the dramatis personae and the material environment 
are noticed in Sections 72 and 74. 

Certain traditional relations are found in some special types of fiction. 
Pastoral figures appear against a background of typical landscape ; the 
heroine of the novel of manners is painted as the queen of the ballroom 
or the promenade ; the conventional European appears in a new light sur- 
rounded by pygmies, giants, or other semi-human figures, in the voyage 
imaginaire ; the knight of the romance of chivalry is the shining center 
of the tournament. 

Of special importance in dramatic characterization is the 
relation of the single figure to the group. The imaging of 
Silas Marner among the village boors at the Rainbow, 
and among the village aristocrats at the Red House, adds 
greatly to the impression of his character. The fact that 
he never appears in any considerable group except in 



Il6 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

physical as well as mental contrast to his fellows, until the 
end of the story, symbolizes his moral isolation and is due 
to the author's instinctive genius or conscious art. 

94. Pantomime. — Human beings express their individu- 
ality as well as typical qualities by weeping, laughter, 
swoon, blush, gesture, and pose. It is a matter of common 
note that these means of expression often have a more ele- 
mental and universal value than speech itself. In many 
situations absence of customary pantomime is also a reve- 
lation of character. In artificial society, gesture as well as 
speech may be used to conceal the real attitude of the 
spirit. 

Criticism 1 points out that Sterne was one of the first 
novelists to give extensive and specialized treatment of 
pantomime; but it had its definite if subordinate place 
before the great schools of the eighteenth century. 

Nash gives us such concrete touches as these, in Jack Wilton : u One 
pecked like a crane with his forefinger at every half syllable he brought 
forth, and nodded with his nose like an old singing man. . . . Another 
would be sure to wipe his mouth with his handkercher at the end of 
every full point. And ever when he thought he had cast a figure so 
curiously, as he dived over head and ears into his auditors' admiration, 
he would take occasion to stroke up his hair, and twine up his mus- 
tachios twice or thrice over, while they might have leisure to applaud 
him." 

The " sentimental school " of the late eighteenth century 
was fond of sighs, tears, swoonings, and the attitudes of 
languorous and mysterious melancholy. Professor Mor- 
ley enumerates the weepings in the Man of Feeling. 2 The 
pages of the famous Clarissa and the representative 

1 Jusserand, Roman Anglais, p. 64; Masson, p. 153; etc. See the ex- 
tended study of " Physiognomik und Mimik " in Riemann. 

2 Introduction to Cassell's National Library edition. 



CHARACTERIZATION 1 1 7 

Juliet Grenville (by Brooke) offer quite as rich opportunity 
for such statistics . Pantomime has a particular human 
value in the novel of manners ; in modern naturalism, it 
inclines to the opposite tendency of animalism. 

95. Utterance. — Careful analysis of the speech of a char- 
acter might note general habits of loquacity or silence, 
carelessness or accuracy ; the quality and intonation of the 
voice ; vocabulary and syntax, etc. In the novel, the 
modulation of the voice can be only slightly indicated by 
direct means, and the indirect often seem ineffective or 
unreal. (Compare Sections 22-24.) This is especially 
true of the singing voice. No refinement of literary de- 
scription can rival the histrionic art in interpreting the 
tragic pathos of the songs of Ophelia and Desdemona. 

It is interesting to speculate just what imagery of sound and just 
what interpretation of character underlie Jane Austen's frequent state- 
ment that Elizabeth Bennet "cried" her words. Detailed attention to 
enunciation, in the service of romantic sentimentalism, is found in 
some of the short stories of Hendrik Conscience. He repeatedly uses 
such descriptive terms as " unintelligible," " almost inaudible," " mur- 
mured," " whispered," " scarcely articulate," etc. In several cases he 
follows the development of the voice from a very low utterance to loud- 
ness in a single speech. 

In vocabulary and syntax, the limitation of the character 
by the author himself is often very noticeable. Unreality 
or falseness is liable to appear in attempts at highly 
specialized technical, professional, or historical language. 
Extended and coherent speeches by characters suffering 
from great pain or great weakness are often improbable 
to the imagination, even if they are scientifically possible. 

The speech of children is an interesting detail. William and Anne 
in Browning's Strafford are curiously mature in vocabulary and syntax. 
Contrast the extended and lifelike talk of Tom and Maggie Tulliver. 



Il8 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

The children in Sense and Sensibility are " full of monkey tricks," and 
express themselves by screams, sobs, .pinches, and kicks instead of 
words. (See Chapter XXI.) 

Propriety, in an untechnical sense, frequently forbids a 
complete record of the imagined utterance of a character. 
Profanity and vulgarity have been defended on the princi- 
ple of dramatic " decorum " since the days of Chaucer, at 
least ; but the novelist has often hesitated to carry out his 
theoretical right The expression of very intense passion, 
secular or religious, is often perceptibly toned down. Sid- 
ney records the beautiful prayer of Pamela, and Richard- 
son displays the most personal and profound religious 
emotion of Clarissa ; but such frank exhibition of the 
sacred privacy of passion, though still common, is not in 
complete accord with the cultural taste of our own time. 

96. Physiological Psychology. — In few novels, even of 
recent date, is the human soul considered as merely the 
temporary result of chemical and physical forces. Modern 
materialism, in its complete formula, has not yet proved 
attractive or feasible for many literary artists. Average 
criticism of the day rebukes both the tendency of the 
naturalist to reduce all psychic experiences to physiologi- 
cal terms; and the tendency of the pure psychologist 
to study the soul as though it were independent of the 
body. 

Physiological psychology, broadly interpreted, is not a new element 
in the novel. The physical and mental characteristics of sexual love 
are causally related in Daphnis and Chloe and other Greek romances, 
as they are in corresponding Elizabethan descriptions. In Jack Wilton 
there are some vigorous strokes to indicate the physical effects of a 
long-continued spirit of revenge : " My tongue with vain threats is 
swolen, and waxen too big for my mouth. My eyes have broken their 
strings with staring and looking ghastly, as I stood devising how to frame 
or set my countenance when I met thee," etc. 



CHARACTERIZATION 1 1 9 

A fundamental conception of the sentimental school, in 
its analysis of " sensibility/' was the rapid response of the 
body to the easily agitated soul. Many of the heroes as well 
as heroines of the period might have said, with a character 
of Karamzin, "I am a mere mortal, the slave of sensibil- 
ity ; " or quoted sympathetically this longer exposition from 
Brooke's Juliet Grenville: — 

" O madam, what kind of a frame is this frame of our mortality ? We 
die with pain ; we die with pleasure ; we can bear nothing in excess. 
We turn away from things indifferent . . . and yet, when our sensations 
rise to a certain pitch, the degree becomes quite insufferable, whatever 
its nature may be. Imagination, like an executioner of the pitiless In- 
quisition, keeps his rack ever in readiness ; he stretches us thereon at 
pleasure, and strains the cords, and we lie panting and expiring beneath 
the tension." In the same novel, the heroine is one day discovered, at 
the age of five, with her doll undressed : — " The moment that we en- 
tered, you started, as greatly alarmed ; and your face, neck, and bosom 
were instantly covered with scarlet, in your dread that the men should 
see the nakedness of your baby." When such heroines arrive at matur- 
ity, they prefer drowning to a rescue which demands disrobing. 

Recent naturalism has often become biological or even 
" animalistic " in its view of the relations of body and soul. 
It has analyzed the physiological elements of all kinds of 
sensation, — the muscular and nervous aspects of thirst, 
starvation, mutilation, and the death agony. It has elabo- 
rated the physiological psychology of " love," degeneracy, 
religious frenzy, insanity, and many other forms of abnor- 
mal consciousness. It has described with gusto, also, the 
merely animal joy of robust, " red-blooded " vitality. Nat- 
uralism of this type is characteristic of Zola, d' Annunzio, the 
Goncourt brothers, Dostoyevsky ; in somewhat less degree 
of Tolstoi, Bjornson, in his later work, and Hardy. It has 
relatively little place in American fiction. 



120 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

In George Eliot there are many touches of this kind, but she is 
never primarily a physiologist. The physical effects of grief are shown 
in Adam Bede, and the approaching motherhood of Hetty Sorrel is 
described partly in the spirit of physiological psychology, but with the 
emphasis clearly on the moral experience. In Silas Marner, the cata- 
lepsy of the hero is rather obscurely treated, on its physical side ; and 
the love relations of Eppie and Aaron, Godfrey and Nancy, Godfrey 
and Molly even, are given a very slight basis in the flesh. 

97. Pure Psychology. — The types of character given in 
Section 87 may suggest deeper study of the individual soul. 
The consciousness of a character may be considered under 
such forms as imagination, memory, observation, generaliza- 
tion, sensation, emotion, volition, etc. Its subject, so to 
speak, may be the individual himself, sex, age, occupation, 
nationality, race; or the wider conceptions suggested by 
such phrases as " cosmic emotion" and Weltschmerz. 

The consciousness of nationality is very strong in the characters of 
Westward Ho! and Soil und Kaben; it is hardly recognizable in the 
villagers of Silas Marner. Balzac analyzes the specialized conscious- 
ness of the Parisian in many characters. 

If by religious consciousness one means the sense of the existence 
of God, it is distinct in Dolly Winthrop, dim and uncertain in Silas 
Marner ; practically latent in Elizabeth Bennet, and not even suggested 
in Queen Esther. 

In the direct portrayal of self-consciousness proper, the 
novel departs widely from life. In actual experience, one 
can acquire only a vague and fragmentary acquaintance 
with the inner life of any other being. The novelist may 
of course transfer his own experience to his character, 
with such modification as imagination permits ; or he may 
content himself with the typical. Inference, analogy, 
generalization, dramatic power, and human sympathy may 
vastly enlarge his insight into individuality ; but no author 



CHARACTERIZATION 1 2 1 

can solve the mystery of the individual. In the case of 
historical characters, the novelist may to some extent 
utilize their own records of experience; but these are 
imperfect and liable to misinterpretation. He is scien- 
tific, in a true sense, only when he presents the typical. 

The novelist may explore the region of the " sub-con- 
scious " ; or the mysteries of child, animal, and supernat- 
ural consciousness ; but these belong, for the most part, to 
the odds and ends of characterization. In describing the 
mental life of supernatural beings, anthropomorphism is 
inevitable. One may perhaps conceive other forms of 
thought and feeling than the human, in the abstract ; but 
if the attempt is made to embody them in the concrete, 
they tend to be transformed into the familiar shapes of our 
present "type of consciousness." 

In general, the novel has been occupied with the more 
intense experiences of the soul ; though realism has given 
attention to the more ordinary mental history of domestic, 
professional, and political life. Abnormal psychology may 
be approached with the romantic craving for the strange 
and mysterious ; or in an ethical spirit, as in Hawthorne ; 
or in a somewhat scientific spirit, interested in the light 
thrown on more universal experience, as to some degree in 
Poe and Balzac. The tendency of such characterization is 
toward physiological psychology, for obvious reasons. 

98. Identity, Individuality, and Type. — The Bertillon 
and similar methods of identifying criminals emphasize the 
unique form of every human body. The early novelists 
made frequent use of such distinguishing details as birth- 
marks, scars, moles, etc. In fictitious literature, confused 
physical identity — sometimes due to bodily resemblance, 
as in the Comedy of Errors ; more commonly to disguise 
by costume — may be a rich source of comic or tragic 



122 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

effect. Confused moral identity is capable of large ethical 
and psychological value, as in the Induction to the Taming 
of the Shrew. 

Double consciousness has been mentioned in Section 87. Compare 
Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Poe's William Wilson, Aldrich's 
Queen of Sheba, etc. Triple consciousness, studied at some length in 
James 1 Principles of Psychology, has received little or no attention in 
the novel as yet. 

In physical and moral history each individual is easily 
identified, if the details are noted. No two individuals can 
occupy the same place at the same time ; nor do they ever 
have the same sequence of emotions or thoughts. Every 
character in all fiction is perfectly distinct from every other, 
though the distinction may not always merit study. 

Moral individuality, in any important artistic sense, is of 
course a much deeper matter. Its problem, stated philo- 
sophically, but in a form applicable to the art of the novel- 
ist, is given thus in Royce's Conception of Immortality : — 

" Individuality is something that we demand of our world, but that, 
in this present realm of experience, we never find. It is the object of 
our purposes, but not now of our attainment ; of our intentions, but not 
of their present fulfilment ; of our will, but not of our sense nor yet of 
our abstract thought ; of our rational appreciation, but not of our de- 
scription ; of our love, but not of our verbal confession. We pursue it 
with the instruments of a thought and of an art that can define only 
types, and of a form of experience that can show us only instances and 
generalities. The unique eludes us, yet we remain faithful to the ideal 
of it, and in spite of sense and of our merely abstract thinking, it be- 
comes for us the most real thing in the actual world, although for us it 
is the elusive goal of an infinite quest." 

Many of the methods of characterization noted in the 
preceding sections may be used either for individualizing 
or typifying. Certain social and psychological types will 



CHARACTERIZATION 1 23 

be suggested by the previous grouping of the dramatis 
personae. Excellent examples of fairly pure types are 
found in the " characters " of Overbury and La Bruyere. 
Recent study of the development of fiction has given some 
attention to their influence on the novel. 

Burlesque often throws light on character types. In this and other 
forms of imitation or conscious contrast, acquaintance with the original 
conceptions is essential. Don Quixote must be compared with the 
knights in serious romance of chivalry ; Joseph Andrews with Pamela ; 
Jacopo Ortis with Werther; Marianne Dashwood with such heroines 
as the one noted in Section 96. Occasionally serious and burlesque 
treatment of the same type occur in a single composition ; for example, 
the pastoral type in As You Like It, and Sidney's Arcadia. A character 
at first quite original for fiction often tends to pass rapidly into conven- 
tional type, like the fierce hero of Jane Eyre, or the sceptical sufferer in 
Robert Elsmere. 

Specific knowledge of history is of course necessary to 
understand fully many of the character types in fiction. It 
is impossible to interpret Turgenieff and other modern 
Russian novelists rightly without some acquaintance with 
Russian social movements. Carlyle's Chartism may be of 
value in the study of Kingsley's Yeast and Alton Locke. 

Single characters often represent quite distinctly several 
minor and major types. Silas Marner is a type of the 
English weavers of his period ; of all human beings morally 
exiled by the treachery of their fellows ; of all souls experi- 
encing a tragic separation between their present and their 
past. 

The general value of allegorical and symbolical charac- 
ters was suggested in Section 85. The allegorical interest 
may be very vague, as in Robinson Crusoe ; more definite, 
as in Wilhelm Meister; or approaching " isomorphic " 
value, as in Pilgrim's Progress. Double allegory, after 



124 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

the fashion of the Faery Queen, seems quite rare in prose 
fiction. 

99. Character Change. — Lotze's clear and simple state- 
ment that " the slow shaping of character is the problem 
of the novel/ ' 1 suggests a vast field of historical, technical, 
and theoretical interest. Character change, in some form, 
is found in nearly all extended fictions, but in early works 
it is often too rapid, or too crude in motivation to be a 
genuine study of the "problem." The sudden transforma- 
tions in the characters of Romeo, Proteus, Bertram, and 
Ferdinand are due in part, no doubt, to the limitations of 
the drama ; but the novel prior to Richardson offers many 
analogous examples. There is some study of gradual devel- 
opment of character, however, in Euphues, Rosalind, and 
Jack Wilton. That Defoe takes no low rank in this respect 
is proved by reference to Colonel Jacque and Moll Flanders, 
as well as Robinson Crusoe. 

Character development may be conceived as mainly an 
unfolding of original tendency, often with distinct emphasis 
upon heredity ; or as the result of natural or social envi- 
ronment, the influence of the supernatural, or the will 
of the character himself. The last process is given the 
general term " characterization " by Giddings, 2 and its prin- 
cipal methods are designated as " persistence, accommo- 
dation, self-denial, and self -control." The development of 
a character is generally greatly modified not only by reac- 
tion upon the traditions, habits, and will of social groups, 
but by relations to other individuals. The influence of 
individual upon individual can be more extensively and 
more intensively studied in the novel than in any other 
form of art ; and more concretely than in sociology. 

1 Outlines of Esthetics ; translated by Ladd. 

2 Inductive Sociology. 



CHARACTERIZATION 125 

Character development may follow many lines — that of 
general culture, as in Wilhelm Meister and the educational 
novel; of emotional power; of artistic genius; of public 
influence, theological belief, etc. The study which appeals 
most strongly to many novelists is that of moral develop- 
ment, upward or downward. Bunyan's Mr. Badman gives, 
in the limited space of a short novel, a very original por- 
trayal of downward movement. Defoe studied both dete- 
rioration and improvement. It has often been noted that 
novelists seem to prefer the development of the bad rather 
than the good as a subject for careful analysis. It is not 
difficult to give some reasons for this, based on the nature 
of art ; and perhaps some based on ethical and psychologi- 
cal interests. For one thing, progress downward more often 
shows a symmetrical movement than progress upward. 

100. Direct and Indirect Characterization. — The most 
direct manner in which a character appears before the 
reader is in his speech, actions, and thoughts. His physi- 
cal presence can be suggested only by the author's descrip- 
tion, or the effect on other dramatis personae. Soliloquy, 
in the set form found in early fiction, is now practically 
obsolete ; but in modified form it is often perfectly natural 
to the character, and it serves a unique and valuable func- 
tion in characterization. Self-characterization, whether in 
soliloquy or elsewhere, is in a sense less direct than uncon- 
scious revelation of character. 

The analyses and opinions of the author introduce a 
third party between the character and the reader, though 
with very various degrees of intrusion. " Dramatic objec- 
tivity M may be violated even in the description of physiog- 
nomy. The novelist's approval, hostility, or apology in 
reference to moral qualities are more important offences 
against that critical canon. 



126 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

In John Brent, the author, Theodore Winthrop, gives two paragraphs 
to his heroine's nose, expressing the opinion that the other facial fea- 
tures are u only tributary to the nose, standing royally in the midst, and 
with dignity presiding over its wayward realm." He is an anarchist, 
however, in respect to a certain type of nasal sovereign: — "Positive 
aquiline noses should be cut off. They are ugly; they are immoral; 
they are sensual." 

George Eliot is quite a sinner in the matter of apology, and seems to 
fear that the reader may identify author with characters. In Adam 
Bede, for example, she reminds us that Adam "had the blood of the 
peasant," and gives a satirical analysis of Hetty's character for the 
" philosophical reader." 

On this matter in general compare Sections 58 and 83. 

In a strictly dramatic novel, the most important indirect 
characterization is by means of the dramatis personae. 
Theoretically complete survey of any character would 
include the opinions or unconscious attitude of friend and 
foe, child and adult, animal and God. In practise, com- 
pleteness yields to artistic selection, but each point of view 
has its own peculiar value. A man often has a new con- 
ception of his own character in the presence of children or 
animals — not always pleasing to self-conceit. In real life, 
the supposed opinion of God is often an important element 
in self -characterization, and in a man's judgment of his 
fellows. Except in a limited way, the novelist usually 
gives this opinion only as it appears in the minds of the 
dramatis personae. 

The fact that any characterization of B by A may clearly reveal the 
nature of A as well as B is often utilized with much dramatic effect in 
the novel. 

The children of Jane Austen are introduced largely to indicate the 
character of adults ; those of George Eliot frequently have a more 
independent value, but Eppie, as a child, exists mainly to enrich the 
characterization of Silas and Godfrey, and focus it. 



CHARACTERIZATION 127 

101. General Methods. — Some methods of characteriza- 
tion are based on literary conventions; others on the 
inherent nature of character study. Such formulas as 
" indescribable/ ' "not to be analyzed," "a paradox," etc., 
may be the sincere expression of genius ; or may result 
from incapacity or slovenly talent. The character cast 
mainly into the mould of a " dominant passion," largely an 
eighteenth century conception, but imitated in such studies 
as P£re Goriot and Quasimodo, is frequently of literary 
rather than vital quality. Vague or light impression of 
character may be quite legitimate in romance aiming to 
liberate rather than discipline the reader's imagination, or 
to place the aesthetic emphasis upon plot. 

In real life, a satisfactory view of individual character is 
usually a combination of analysis and synthesis. Speaking 
of over-analysis in artistic characterization, Veron * says : 
" We want a mental stimulus, not a treatise on anatomy." 
Right relations between analysis and synthesis can be 
attained only by dramatic power, psychological instinct, 
and human sympathy. 

" Hedging," " foil," climax, contrast, and similar methods 
are effective and based on reality, though often used with 
much artificiality. Contrast in particular, whether studied 
in the individual or in a wider area, is an almost indispen- 
sable resource ; but when realistic, is rarely complete or 
carried out into antithetical detail. The economic treat- 
ment is suggested by Royce : 2 — 

"The consciousness of likeness and of difference help each other; 
and therefore in a measure it is true that the more we get of one of 
them, before our knowledge, the more we get of the other. So they 
decline altogether to be known separately." 

1 Esthetics. 2 Conception of Immortality. 



128 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

The principle of inference is of wide application, and 
one constantly employed in the finer effects of characteri- 
zation. 

In the relations of soul and body, it is comparatively immaterial to 
the novelist whether one trembles because he is afraid, according to the 
old psychology, or is afraid because he trembles, according to Professor 
James' hypothesis. In either case the traditional inferences from the 
physical phenomena are correct for practical purposes of character study. 

Many important differences between the presentation of 
character in the novel and in real life are apparent. In 
the novel the entire history of a character unfolds before 
us in a few hours. Our later intimacy may extend over 
many years, and our conception may undergo great trans- 
formation, but the character itself presents no new data. 
In real life association with human beings involves our 
influence upon them. The characters of a novel have 
influenced real persons in countless ways, — one famous 
example is found in the suicides that followed Werther, — 
but there is no possible influence in the opposite direction. 
In the novel, again, every character is interpreted in rela- 
tion to a certain fixed number of persons, events, places, 
times, emotions, and ideas, and no others; that is, it 
appears in a plot — a type of unity which has no exact 
model in life itself. 

These and similar facts have important effects on the 
problem of characterization in the novel. Among other 
results is possibly that of a necessary exaggeration^ if the 
character is to appear in a perspective resembling that of 
our experience. 

102. Group Characterization. — In the group, there is 
always a possible interest in the group itself, and in the 
individuals composing it. In some ways these two in- 



CHARACTERIZATION 129 

terests are antagonistic ; in some ways complementary. 
Without some distinction of individuals, a group which we 
can neither actually see nor hear, tends to become a mere 
abstraction. Partial individualization, not obscuring the 
group, is found in the Shakespearian formula, " first citi- 
zen/' etc. Concerted speech, mentioned in Section 19, is 
an artificial method of unifying the mental and moral 
characteristics of the group. 

Considered as a unit, a group may be characterized in 
many respects like an individual ; but it tends to become 
typical, it rarely appears more than a few times with ab- 
solute identity, and it does not often embody any elaborate 
study of mental or moral development. 



CHAPTER VII 
SUBJECT-MATTER 

103. Subject-Matter and Form. — In the entire novel, 
and in its separate passages, the main interest of the 
author or the critic may be concentrated upon either of 
these elements, or it may be concerned with their intimate, 
complex relations. In every type of literature, all the 
subject-matter is given linguistic form. In the novel, if a 
subject is considered for its service to the plot, its relation 
to the illusion, one is concerned with novelistic form ; when 
the emphasis is laid on thought for its own sake, one 
studies thematic values which are essentially the same in 
all forms of art. The ideal relation, for most critics, is 
found only when a significant subject is " bodied forth " 
in an appropriate and significant form. 

The subject landscape, when introduced simply as a background for 
incident, has primarily a formal value ; when made a topic of conversa- 
tion by the characters, its value may be partly formal, partly thematic ; 
when discussed for its own sake, in the author's comment, the value may 
be almost purely thematic. In the novel of pure dramatic structure, 
every subject is, in the first instance, formal — subordinate to the char- 
acters and the situation. 

In the short story and the romance, the interest in form is often more 
complete and continuous than in the novel. The terms " tale " and 
" story " suggest the predominance of form ; the terms " study," u pur- 
pose-novel," etc., imply a larger attention to subject-matter for its own 
sake. Allegory and symbolism, at their best, attain a rich harmony of 
the two interests. Examine the relations of subject and form in semi- 
novelistic works, such as the philosophical dialogue of Plato and his 
imitators, the " letter-essay," Toxophilus, The Complete Angler, etc. 



SUBJECT-MATTER 1 3 1 

104. Extensive and Intensive Subject. — The novelist, 
to some extent, must choose between the consideration of 
a large variety of subjects, and the detailed study of a more 
limited field. He may choose gladly, instinctively, or with a 
sense of artistic renunciation. He may attempt to combine 
an extensive survey in general with an intensive treatment 
of specific subjects ; but a novel is not often of equal value 
as a "large diffused picture" of life (Smollett) and as a 
profound study of a concentrated theme. This distinction 
may be kept in mind throughout the present chapter. 

105. The Typical and the Individual. — Typification is 
an important method of enlarging the scope of a novel 
without losing the force of an intensive treatment. Any 
11 section of life " may be interpreted in such manner as to 
bring out the values of an historical period, of the general 
organization of society, or of human experience as a whole ; 
as a robin may be studied as representative of the thrushes, 
of all bird-lif e, or of the vertebrates. This typical quality 
may be clearly expressed by the novelist, or it may be 
merely suggested to the reader. It may be found in all the 
elements of the novel — in setting, conversation, motiva- 
tion, as well as in incident and character. 

106. Exhibition and Interpretation. — The selection of 
certain data rather than others, the proportion of emphasis 
upon those chosen, and the moulding of them into the 
unity of a plot, give a real interpretation of life in every 
novel. Beyond this inevitable " criticism of life " the 
novelist may be as silent as possible, or he may consider 
his direct interpretation as equally important with the pic- 
ture itself. 

The various " isms " of the schools may be compared from this point 
of view. A frank statement of impressionism, as offering an array of 
human phenomena without any attempt to explain their real meaning, 



132 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

is quoted from Thomas Hardy, on page 303 . The chief value of the 
philosophical novel is in its effort to give some unified explanation of all 
the material it brings together. Note the opinions of Masson and 
Scherer quoted in Section 119, and Lotze's definition of art, in Section 
208. 

107. The Subject of the Novel. — Probably few critics 
would oppose the idea that the principal subject of every 
true novel is humanity, in one or more of its infinite 
aspects ; and this in a sense which really distinguishes the 
novel from most if not all other forms of art. All art is 
an expression of the humanity of the artist himself, but the 
novelist always, in large measure, discovers his humanity 
by observation of the life of other men. 

The question, just what aspect of this vast subject is the 
true field of the novel, cannot be so easily answered. Two 
theories which can be clearly distinguished consider, re- 
spectively, the life of society and the life of the individual 
to be the essential theme of the novel. These two views are 
not necessarily antagonistic, and in every great novel there 
is matter enough on both themes to repay separate study. 

The following outline of analysis must be treated flexibly, and 
adapted to the needs of a concrete study. For more systematic analy- 
sis of specific phases of subject-matter, reference must be made to the 
underlying sciences of sociology, psychology, history, and ethics. 

108. Sociology and History. — The novel does not con- 
sider humanity in the abstract, as a scientific Genus Homo, 
or a dramatic Everyman ; but as it appears in some limited 
social and historical relations. The sociological interest 
concerns those forms of social organization and life that 
are comparatively permanent ; the historical interest takes 
account of the conditions belonging to a particular period 
and locality. 1 Both of these interests are important in 

1 See Giddings, p. 8. 



SUBJECT-MATTER 1 33 

every representative novel, but now one predominates, now 
the other. It might be said that the artistic imagination 
inclines toward the transitory phases of human experience, 
toward the contrasts and shadings which history continu- 
ally affords ; and that the scientific mind finds a deeper sat- 
isfaction in examining the permanent elements in social life. 

In the Come'die Humaine, the inclusive scheme is historical — the 
primary aim being to picture the French society of a limited epoch ; 
but there is a very rich exhibition of general social relations. In Anna 
Kardnina, the sociological study seems more significant than the purely 
historical ; while in the novels of TurgeniefF, the temporary conditions 
of Russian life are brought more decidedly into the foreground. Scott's 
interest is often historical in the main; while George Eliot is always 
deeply interested in the permanent aspects of society, even when she 
studies historical variations in some detail. 

109. Social Composition. — The importance of social 
composition in the novel is partly indicated by the list of 
types given in the appendix. In the representative social 
novel there is much interpretation as well as exhibition of 
the organization of social groups. While comprehensive- 
ness requires some attention to all the chief types of social 
groups, many of the characteristics of man as a "socius" 
may be studied in any one group ; — the family, for in- 
stance, may be viewed as a kind of social microcosm. 
Many of the great European novels, however, are interna- 
tional in scope of subject. 

The Family. The root idea of the family may be found 
in the relations of man and wife, or of parents and children. 

A comprehensive survey of family organization is found in Anna 
Kare'nina. This novel exhibits the relation of master and servants, 
husband and wife, man and mistress, sister and brother, parents and 
children, etc. Its principal limitation, in this theme, is that most of the 
family life shown is in the aristocratic circles of society. 



134 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Other novels with important exhibition or interpretation of the family 
group are Utopia, Amelia, The Vicar of Wakefield, Pride and Prejudice, 
and The Mill on the Floss. 

The Community, Aside from the common types of rural 
village and city quarter, the novel may picture the social 
groups of the prison, hospital, barracks, camp, factory, 
business house, etc. 

Compare the studies of a great business house — its esprit de corps, 
discipline, ranking of members, etc. — in Soil und Haben and Dombey 
and Son. Contrast the romantic view of a cathedral community in 
Notre Dame de Paris with the realistic view in Barchester Towers. 
Hospital life appears in La Debacle, under military conditions, in time 
of war ; and in I Promessi Sposi, under municipal conditions, in time 
of pestilence. 

Social Caste. The very term caste denotes a group 
that is defined by its relations to other groups. In the 
processes by which a class emerges from the general social 
composition, or is reabsorbed in it, in the comedy or 
tragedy of class rivalry, and in the movements of an 
individual from class to class, the novel of manners, and 
the novel of social psychology find a rich field. 

Fielding warns the novelist that " a true knowledge of the world is 
gained only by conversation, and the manners of every rank must be 
seen in order to be known." (Tom Jones, XIV, I.) He finds that 
many English writers fail in describing the upper classes, because of 
ignorance of the subject — a criticism frequently made of Dickens. In 
recent realism, a similar failure is often apparent in the picture of the 
lower classes. To one who is an actual member of a given trade or 
profession, familiar in daily life with its labor, traditions, language, and 
ideals, the descriptions of it in the novel often seem curiously unreal. 

Nationality and Race. The unity of a national group 
may be considered in its physical, linguistic, industrial, or 
religious aspects, as well as in the purely political. A 
comprehensive view of any great nation must include some 



SUBJECT-MATTER 1 3 5 

picture of different races. One of the largest social sub- 
jects in the novel is the composition of empire, whether 
conceived in a semi-scientific spirit, or exhibited as a moral 
unity, its elements fused together, perhaps in a period of 
special stress, by 

" The prayer of many a race and creed, and clime." 

Note the types of fiction listed in the appendix, for examples of dif- 
ferent treatment of this subject. Among series of novels in which 
nationality is an important theme, are the Waverley Novels, the 
Comedie Humaine, and Galdos' Episodios Nacionales — the < epic of 
modern Spain.' 

Cycle of Civilization. Common interests in religion, 
commerce, diplomacy, science, or general cultural con- 
ditions, may fashion a considerable number of separate 
political units into a larger whole, full of dramatic interest 
and problematic quality. In all such extensive groups 
there are discordant elements, and abundant material for 
artistic contrast and shading. 

In modern European civilization, Russia and Turkey are not com- 
pletely assimilated to the dominant tone of society ; and the entrance 
of the Orient into the sisterhood of western nations offers an inter- 
esting spectacle. The gypsy, the Jew, the negro, and the Indian have 
given picturesque material to many novels. 

1 10. Social Life. — The relation of the mere organiza- 
tion of society to its rich variety of mental and moral life, 
might be compared with the relation of artistic structure 
to style, or the relation of anatomy to the personality of 
the body. 

Domestic Life. A study of this subject may include 
the ideals of privacy and hospitality, the emotional har- 
mony of the family, the attachment to home for its own 
sake, etc. Interpretation often takes the form of a con- 
trast of the domestic ideal with the ideal of other types 



136 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

of social life, as in The Cloister and The Hearth, and 
Middlemarch; or with the ideal of individual life, as in 
Pilgrim's Progress. In both Silas Marner and Robinson 
Crusoe there is a detailed picture of domestic life without 
marriage. 

Industrial Life. Agricultural labor has been a subject 
in the novel from the beginning, though the early treat- 
ment was usually idealized in a high degree. The differ- 
ence between the rural industry in Daphnis and Chloe and 
in La Terre is conspicuous, whether viewed from the social 
or the artistic point of view. 

Early romance gives a picture of life in which labor in 
general has a very subordinate place. Modern realism 
has explored the world of humble labor, has sympathized 
with its weariness and suffering, and not rarely has found 
in it the most essential elements of human experience. 

Deloney's Jack of Newbury may be mentioned as an Elizabethan 
fiction which gives both an extensive and an intensive study of a special 
industrial class — the weavers of England. In the eighteenth century 
there was a sturdy revolt against the artificiality of pastoral imagination, 
and an increasing sense of the value of real labor as an artistic subject. 
It is interesting to note, in the field of epic poetry, that the hero 
of Thomson's Castle of Indolence is no romantic representative of 
chivalry, but a modern Knight of Arts and Industry. 

Political Life. Satire on contemporary political con- 
ditions, and plans for an ideal political life, are common in 
the fiction of the Renaissance. In the main, the novelist 
has been a liberal in politics, in both his dream and his 
practical attitude. Recent realism has given attention to 
the routine of political life, to its corruption, its relations 
to religion, and to general society. Often the descriptions 
of the novelist are based on considerable personal 
experience. 



SUBJECT-MATTER 1 37 

The romanticists were allied with the political reforms of their time, 
and Victor Hugo's famous statement is a representative one: "Le 
romantisme, tant de fois mal defini, n'est. ... que le libe'ralisme en lit- 
terature. ... La liberte dans Part, la liberte' dans la socie'te', voila le 
double but auquel doivent tendre d'un meme pas tous les esprits con- 
sequents et iogiques." (Preface to Hernani, 1830.) Hugo himself, and 
several Russian novelists of the last century, suffered some form of polit- 
ical punishment for the expression of a liberal political creed. 

Religious Life. This subject may be considered from 
an ecclesiastical, historical, ethical, or artistic point of 
view. In its deeper aspects, it is often associated with the 
individual rather than with social groups. The novelist 
has usually been a champion of human nature, of a secular 
ideal, as contrasted with any narrow type of religious ideal. 
(Compare Section 132.) 

Since the Renaissance, the novelist has had constantly 
before him the spectacle of a divided Christendom, a sub- 
divided protestantism, an academic or aesthetic classical 
paganism, and, environing all, the superstition or irreligion 
of untutored human nature, whether in the Indian or the 
diplomat. In the last century, the development of a new 
type of scientific agnosticism, and the conscious separation 
of the ethical element in religion from its historical and 
supernatural associations, have offered comparatively new 
themes to the novel. 

Hawthorne's interest in Puritanism is ethical rather than purely 
religious. — Mrs. Radcliffe's Italian, and The Castle of Otranto, represent 
the artistic introduction of Catholic life, characteristic of the romantic 
movement. In Rob Roy, it is the historical and dramatic interest that 
mainly appeals to Scott. Compare the attitude toward Catholic faith in 
Manzoni, Newman, and Fogazzaro. — The struggle of medieval religion 
with the modern secular spirit, in a country where the former is particu- 
larly strong, is studied in La Espuma, Dona Perfecta, Pepita Jimenez, 
and La Fe. 



138 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Cultural Life in General. The novel gives one a more 
extensive picture of social culture than any other form of 
art. Its medium of expression, language, and its chief 
structural form, dialogue, must always suggest some 
special type of cultural life. Art, travel, and education are 
among the social phenomena which distinguish one state 
of culture from another. Each of these subjects is a major 
theme in one or another kind of fiction. The interpreta- 
tion of culture by the novelist often has a touch of irony, 
for the imagination sees manners in their relative values, 
in which there is always a suggestion of comedy. 

in. Historical Period. — Every novel is historical, in so 
far as it pictures the life characteristic of a particular period. 
In a narrower sense, a novel is historical when the author 
lays conscious stress upon such life, even if it belongs to 
his own time. Spielhagen defines the historical novel in 
a third and more common sense, as one portraying a time 
"auf welche dieses Licht [der Erinnerung der jetzigen 
Generation] nicht mehr vollkraftig fallt." 2 

A given period may be selected for genuine historical 
purposes, or for the sake of its ethical, sociological, or 
artistic value. If it is chosen simply as an artistic back- 
ground, the novel cannot be considered truly historical. 
In Gothic romance, the middle ages are often selected 
because of their picturesque quality and their remoteness 
from the prose of contemporary life. The first centuries 
of the Christian church made a definite religious appeal to 
Newman; in Ebers' Homo Sum, their interest is partly 
historical, partly artistic. 

Even in the true historical novel, the material is not all 
equally characteristic of the period. Some of the details 
are usually fully historical ; others are typically historical ; 

1 Technik des Romans; Das Gebiet des Romans. 



SUBJECT-MATTER 1 39 

and others are not characteristic of any special period, or 
are even out of keeping with the particular period in ques- 
tion. The main historical value may be found in the char- 
acters, incidents, settings, language; or in the dominant 
mental and moral tone. Thackeray's eighteenth century 
novels are wonderful successes in this last respect. 

The exact period is not always easily stated, for a small section of 
history may be viewed as representative of a much larger area. Of 
about 1500 novels mentioned in Bakeris Guide, the historical distribu- 
tion is as follows : — 

Ante-Christian period . . . 40 1500 to 1600 185 

a.d., 1 to 700 85 1600 to 1700 315 

700 to 1400 130 1700 to 1800 420 

1400 to 1500 80 1800 to 1850 235 

The distribution of Scott's historical survey as given in the Library 
Edition of the Waverley Novels, may be summarized as follows : — 

1000 to 1400 5 1600 to 1700 8 

1400 to 1500 3 1700 to 1750 7 

1500 to 1600 4 1750 to 1800 8 

112. Historical Interpretation. — The reader's sense of 
the particular nature of a period may be gained through 
an extensive array of characteristic details, by an intensive 
study of striking features, or by some general formula. 
To over-emphasize the peculiarities of an epoch, however, 
is to destroy a true historical quality ; for underneath all 
the transformations of society lie a common human nature, 
and practically uniform types of social organization. 

The author's interpretation will depend on the degree 
to which historical imagination has been developed in his 
generation, as well as on his personal power to re-create 
the past. It will vary according to the nearness and the 
familiarity of the historical field he selects. The backward 



140 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

glance of George Eliot at the catastrophe of Silas Marner 
covered only some thirty years; but for the present-day 
reader, nearly a half century more intervenes, and George 
Eliot herself is an historical figure. 

An interesting pamphlet might be made of the views of history by 
different novelists. Discussion of the relation of history to fiction is 
almost as old as fiction itself. Several of Scott's ideas have already 
been noticed. Vigny's preface to Cinq-Mars is an important contribu- 
tion. Merimee wrote, in the preface to the Chronique du Regne de 
Charles IX, " I don't care for anything in history except anecdotes." 
(Gilbert.) Dumas declared that Lamartine had " elevated history 
almost to the dignity of the novel." (Ibid.) — See also the quotations 
from Hugo and Brunetiere, in the history of novelistic criticism, in the 
appendix. 

113. Individuality. — In one aspect, the life of the indi- 
vidual is a series of external phenomena, which the novelist 
may observe as he observes the manners of society. Some 
of the phases of that external life are sex, age, health and 
disease, social success and failure, repose and activity, 
isolation and companionship. 

In the matter of age, the novel has laid stress upon 
the central portions of life. Infancy and early childhood 
have received more attention in recent educational psychol- 
ogy than in the novel ; and old age has rarely been a major 
subject in extended fiction. 

Baldwin's Dictionary of Philosophy gives this tribute to the study of 
adolescence in the novel : " The storm and stress periods of Goethe 
and John Stuart Mill, of Tolstoi and Marie Bashkirtseff, no less than 
the masterly delineations of George Eliot's Gwendolen Harleth and 
Maggie Tulliver, form a valuable and suggestive contribution to the 
psychology of adolescence." (Article on Adolescence.) The maturing 
of the individual is not a new subject of the last century. It is forcibly 
presented in Daphnis and Chloe, and in Paul and Virginia, in connec- 
tion with first love. 



SUBJECT-MATTER 141 

In the inner life of the individual the novel finds a field 
particularly adapted to its own powers. Lyric poetry may 
be a strong rival in some respects, but in elaborate and 
varied study of the development and experiences of moral 
individuality, the novel has no successful competitor, unless 
it be such poetry as Browning's Inn Album, Red Cotton 
Night-Cap Country, Sordello, etc., which is itself novelistic. 
Browning's formula in the dedication of Sordello, "my 
stress lay on the incidents in the development of a soul : 
little else is worth study," does not cover the entire scope 
of the novel, but it is applicable to very many of the great- 
est novels. Brunetiere says that " the novel is nothing if 
not psychological." 

The inner life may be viewed as simple or complex, as a 
chaos or a cosmos, as temporary or eternal, as a revelation 
or an unintelligible mystery, as having value in itself or 
only in its relations to society. Elements in its composition 
are memory, sensation, emotion, thought, and volition ; 
among its episodes are those of special activity and of 
languor, of the domination of single passions, of faith and 
doubt, of self-reliance and humble submission. Some lives, 
especially in the short story, are interpreted through some 
single moral experience. This is the conception of many 
love-stories; but modern realism often considers experi- 
ence as a continuous " stream of consciousness," in 
which no quiet pool or wild cataract can be viewed as 
final. 

The episodes of mental and moral life may be less 
easily examined than those of the outer history. In inter- 
pretation of other individuals the novelist is liable to the 
" psychologist's fallacy " of transferring his own experience 
to his character. A clear image of the physical person* 
ality and its activities helps to overcome this tendency. 



142 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

The life of the sensations is exhibited with marked emphasis in 
Frankenstein, in a semi-scientific spirit. The word sensation itself 
occurs some thirty times ; and the experiences of hunger, thirst, bodily 
fatigue and pain, and consciousness of organic disturbance, are all 
impressed upon the reader. 

The conception that the emotional life is the true field 
of the novel has not disappeared, but it is no longer held 
with the old dogmatism ; and the emotion of love, in par- 
ticular, is now viewed as only one of many aspects of 
spiritual history the novelist is free to study. 

Compare the quotations from Novalis and Madame de Stael, in the 
history of novelistic criticism, in the appendix. In Silas Marner, love, 
as a sexual passion, is less important than other phases of love and 
other emotions. — In many recent novels, the emotional struggle between 
faith and doubt is a central theme. There are notable studies of this 
subject in Anna Karenina, Children of the Soil, and ValdeV La Fe. 
— Memory often has a large place in romantic psychology, especially in 
the sentimental school. — The reflective side of life is best exhibited in 
the philosophical novel, as in Rasselas and Wilhelm Meister. 

114. The Individual and Society. — The relation of these 
two forces may be interpreted as a natural harmony, an 
unceasing conflict, or a necessary compromise. Not a few 
novelists have been strong advocates for the rights of the 
individual, not only against social conventions, but even 
against moral law, as society has conceived it. The moral 
isolation of the individual who rebels against the social will 
is a frequent tragic theme, and the comedy of petty resist- 
ance to social demand has been largely exhibited in fiction. 
The moral isolation of all deep individual life, even when 
it craves sympathy from its fellows, is a less common 
theme. The lovers in a novel usually arrive at a fairly 
complete understanding, as compared with those described 
in Browning's Two in The Campagna : — 



SUBJECT-MATTER 143 

u Just when I seemed about to learn ! 

Where is the thread now ? Off again ! 
The old trick ! Only I discern — 

Infinite passion, and the pain 
Of finite hearts that yearn." 

The profound religious solitude of Levin, in Anna Karenina, in refer- 
ence to his wife, recalls the autobiographical confessions of the author. 
Such a theme belongs mainly to nineteenth century fiction, but The 
Princess of Cleves describes the emotional isolation of a husband and 
wife, who are in complete mutual confidence and respect. In Robinson 
Crusoe, it is interesting to note the large measure of social quality in the 
mental life of the hero during his long period of physical solitude. Yet 
in its way, this novel is a real and deep study of the " solitude of the 
soul." 

115, Human Nature. — Humanity in its totality never 
appears as a subject in art, unless in symbolical treatment, 
which is alien to the spirit of the novel. Through the 
imagery of limited social and historical conditions, all the 
great novels exhibit and interpret the enduring elements of 
human nature. In the first chapter of Tom Jones, Field- 
ing tells the reader that the sole dish of the feast is to be 
Human Nature ; but he adds that there is little danger 
that an author will " be able to exhaust so extensive a 
subject." 

Comprehensiveness requires that the good and the bad, 
the dignified and the trivial, the pleasant and the repulsive 
qualities of our common nature be exhibited ; but usually 
there is some central conception which serves as a guide in 
interpretation. In most cases, such a conception is ethical 
rather than purely artistic or scientific. Man may be 
viewed as inherently bad, or warped from his natural 
goodness by the force of unkind circumstances. Many 
novelists delight to show human nature throwing off the 
disguises under which society has endeavored to hide it. 



144 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Often such broad qualities as restlessness, lack of self- 
knowledge, or ironical divergence between ideal and 
practise, are dominant notes in the conception. 

116. Nature in Man. — By nature, in this connection, is 
meant a combination of qualities found in man, but asso- 
ciated with his animal life, rather than with his humanity- 
proper, or with his supposed divinity. Nature, so inter- 
preted, may appear in heredity, instinct, health or disease, 
buoyancy or depression of spirits, and in the lower passions. 
It may be exhibited in the individual or in social groups. 
It is not identical with ferocity, for there is an animal 
repose, temporary gentleness, which is often in striking 
contrast to the restlessness of the intellectual life, and the 
agonies of the saint's aspiration. The interpretation of 
man as a child of nature may be optimistic or pessimistic. 
Nature may be viewed as a force to be gladly accepted, as 
the normal guide of life, or as the arch-enemy of the 
rational and the religious ideal. 

From Daphnis and Chloe to Pepita Jimenez, natural instinct has 
often been approved by the novelist, as more authoritative than any prin- 
ciple of self-denial. Since the Renaissance, the naturalism of Greek 
culture, or even the uncultivated naturalism of the savage, has often 
been considered more attractive than any form of asceticism. Within 
the church itself, such conceptions as that of " muscular Christianity " 
have offered a protest against the medieval praise of bodily morti- 
fication. 

Goethe's Wahlverwandtschaften is one of the famous novels in which 
naturalistic philosophy is applied to the passion of love. On the other 
hand, in George Eliot, a principal cause of moral mistake and crime is 
the weak indulgence of natural instinct. Pater's Marius the Epicurean 
is a notable exposition of the refined animalism of ancient philosophy. 

117. External Nature. — Some exhibition of natural 
environment is essential to the illusion of an expanded 
novel, for there is no representative individual or social 



SUBJECT-MATTER 145 

group whose life history is not partially determined by 
such environment. The human body itself is an object in 
nature, and to a large extent the human mind is occupied 
in observing, utilizing, and interpreting natural phenomena. 
Language is constantly referring the reader, directly or 
indirectly, to external nature. 

In relation to man's moral life, nature may be considered 
as helpful, hostile, or ironically indifferent. In one of 
Matthew Arnold's sonnets, the idea of a moral companion- 
ship with nature is treated with scorn : — 

" Man must begin, know this, where Nature ends ; 
Nature and man can never be fast friends. 
Fool, if thou canst not pass her, rest her slave." 

To the novelist, as to the lyric poet, and to the essayist 
Emerson, nature has often appeared as something illusive, 
unresponsive, hindering rather than helping man's search 
for reality and truth. 

Important specific subjects in the novel are climate, animal life, and 
landscape. The early forms of romance had their own types of land- 
scape, in the main artificial and without basis in careful observation. 
Artificial also, to a large degree, was the eighteenth century interest in 
landscape gardening ; represented in the Spectator, though this journal 
gave some foretaste of the romantic return to nature. The Gothic and 
the sentimental schools developed new phases of the subject. In Sense 
and Sensibility, Marianne says " admiration of landscape scenery is 
become a mere jargon," and Edward adds, "I like a fine prospect, but 
not on picturesque principles. I do not like crooked, twisted, blasted 
trees. I admire them much more if they are tall, straight, and flourish- 
ing," etc. (Chapter XVIII). This is presumably the sentiment of the 
author. Mrs. RadclifFe was one of the early novelists to develop a treat- 
ment of landscape in detail ; and since Scott prose fiction has elaborated 
every phase of the subject, often beyond the point of plot-economy. 

118. The Supernatural. — In the novel, the supernatural 
may be introduced in the structural values of character, 



146 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

background, motivation, or subject of conversation. It is 
never a main theme in the realistic novel. 

The lighter phases of mythology may be viewed as quite 
remote from the serious consideration of theology. Fairies, 
demons, ghosts, are usually treated in a fanciful rather 
than deeply imaginative manner, in late fiction. The 
Supreme Being, whether conceived as a personal God, or 
as fate, force, or chance, cannot be considered by a true 
artistic spirit, except in a reverent manner. 

The life of man after death is a conception of deep 
human interest, at least in so far as it affects the activities 
and the thought of this life, and is therefore not alien to 
the spirit of the novel. 

The European novelist ought not to complain of lack of 
variety in this subject of the supernatural. He is familiar 
with the mythology of classical antiquity ; he finds ample 
treatment of Gothic mythology in art; he inherits the 
ideas of Christian supernaturalism, and he may easily 
explore the kindred ideas of uncivilized races. 

Classical and Gothic mythology have appeared in prose fiction in 
both a serious and a fanciful treatment, as they did in Shakespeare. 
The modern novel has rarely if ever reembodied the primitive Germanic 
religious ideas with the majesty or dramatic power of the Wagnerian 
opera. — A curious tribute to the occasional practical atheism of the 
novel is quoted from a Comtist, in reference to The Princess of Cleves, 
in an introduction to that fiction by Anatole France. 

The treatment of the supernatural is often entirely 
dramatic, the views belonging to the dramatis personae and 
not to the author; the virtual subject being therefore man. 

In Silas Marner, the theology of the characters is essentially different, 
even in terms, from that of the novelist. It is only the characters who 
refer to the Supreme Being as God, or Providence ; to George Eliot, the 



SUBJECT-MATTER 147 

idea is better expressed by such phrases as The Invisible, The Unseen 
Love, etc. 

For a discussion of the theology of modern English novelists, see 
the volume by S. Law Wilson. 

119. General Philosophy. — The interpretation in a novel 
may give a philosophy of separate subjects — of society, his- 
tory, nature, etc. — or it may give a more general view of the 
meaning underlying all these aspects of experience. Such 
interpretation may be the real purpose of a novel, or it 
may be incidental, perhaps unconscious. It may be in 
solution, completely embodied in the warp and woof of the 
illusion, or appear as outside exposition, in occasional com- 
ment or in extended generalization. Consistency may per- 
haps be expected from the author, but disagreement among 
the dramatis personae may be a sign of true dramatic power 
in the writer. 

Masson writes : " In short, the measure of the value of 
any fiction, ultimately and on the whole, is the worth of 
the speculation, the philosophy, on which it rests, and which 
has entered into the conception of it" (Page 33.) This 
may seem to be a characteristic English emphasis ; but it 
is in harmony with the view of at least one great French 
critic. Edmond Scherer says that " philosophy is the real 
final desideratum in a novel." 

In practical analysis, the philosophy of a novel may be examined by 
a comparison of all the stated or implied minor generalizations ; or by 
finding the largest generalizations and following them out into details. 

EXAMPLES AND STUDIES 

In Voltaire's Candide, compare the presentation of pessimism by 
persiflage and by serious argument; by concrete example and by 
speculative idea ; negatively and positively. Compare the philosophy 
in general with that of Rasselas. 



148 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

In Wilhelm Meister, unify into a general philosophy the interpretations 
of art, travel, culture, education, love, and religion. 

Sense and Sensibility. The philosophy is mainly social. It is found 
in solution, no single paragraph being entirely given to generalization. 
Compare and unify the following views, and relate them to similar utter- 
ances in the other works of the author : " Unlike people in general, she 
proportioned [her words] to the number of her ideas " ; — " an apparent 
composure of mind, which in being the result ... of serious reflection, 
must eventually lead her to contentment and cheerfulness " ; — " almost 
all labored under one or other of these disqualifications for being agree- 
able — want of sense, either natural or improved — want of elegance — 
want of spirits — or want of temper ; " — " Lucy does not want sense, 
and that is the foundation on which everything good may be built." 

In Robinson Crusoe, there is considerable social and religious philos- 
ophy, in solution, in the first two parts. Note the interpretation of 
middle-class social position, of Providence, reason, industry, religious 
toleration, etc. Compare this with the more expanded and direct 
exposition of the third part. 

In Ivanhoe, the philosophy is mainly historical. Compare the gen- 
eralizations in the first five paragraphs ; in the first paragraphs of Chap- 
ter VII ; in Chapter XIV, on the character of King John ; in Chapter 
XXIII, on the manners and morals of the period. 

In Silas Marner, the ethical and psychological facts of life are looked 
at in a large way. The longest direct generalization is on religious 
trust. Note also paragraphs in Chapters I, II, III, IX, and XVII. 

120. The Main Theme. — Some rhetoricians have said 
that the central theme was more obscure in narration than 
in any other type of literary structure. It is often difficult 
to give it a clear statement in the novel, because it is so 
thoroughly wrought into the general fiber of the action 
and characterization. It is frequently obscure in romance, 
but generally more clear in the short story. Sometimes it 
is found in a motto, preface, moral, or epilogue. The main 
theme may be more closely identified with the plot or with 
the characters, with a single character or a group. It is 
likely to be apparent at the principal turning-points of the 



SUBJECT-MATTER 149 

plot, especially at the climax and catastrophe. In some 
works of art, the central idea is virtually technical in spirit, 
but in the novel it is usually on a broader basis, being 
ethical, social, historical, or psychological in spirit. It may 
be identical with the original germ, or define itself as the 
process of composition proceeds. 

A theme, like a plot, may be stated in various degrees 
of abstraction ; and it is usually helpful to consider it in 
direct relation to the individual work, and in comparison 
with other works in which it is of similar value. 

In Robinson Crusoe, the main theme may perhaps be stated as the 
conquest of the individual over circumstances, through the power of 
reason, patience, and reliance on Providence. 

In Soil und Haben, the theme, stated concretely, is the moral excel- 
lence of the German commercial character ; more abstractly, the moral 
excellence of German national character ; still more abstractly (perhaps 
beyond the conscious purpose of the author), the superiority of sane, 
well-regulated life over the life of passion and capricious emotion. 

In Wilhelm Meister, the education and self-culture of the individual, 
through social experience and reflection, is one conception of the main 
theme. — In Romola, the contrast between self-indulgence and self- 
renunciation, as moral habits, is at least a very important theme. 



CHAPTER VIII 
STYLE 

121. General Conception. — For present purposes, three 
of the numerous shades in the meaning of style may be 
noted : — 

(i) The whole causal relation of the qualities in an 
artistic structure to the mind of the artist — the objective- 
subjective bond. It is clear that in this sense every work 
of art has style. 

(2) Adequacy of expression. This is substantially the 
idea in Spencer's principle of " economy," and is one com- 
mon conception of a " good style." It does not necessarily 
imply beauty or rarity of expression, for the mind expressed 
may lack these qualities. 

In this sense, style is of high excellence in Boccaccio, Cervantes, 
Rabelais, Defoe, and Jane Austen ; less successful in Scott, Balzac, 
Tolstoi, and Zola. It is often unattained in George Meredith, because 
he fails to convey his ideas to the average reader, or to distinguish the 
language of his characters from his own, as he apparently attempts 
to do. 

(3) Conscious adaptation of means to purpose. This 
conscious control of the medium of expression may be 
highly intellectual, critical, associated with the labor limce, 
or more spontaneous. It is most naturally and most 
severely tested in details, as commonly implied in the 
phrase, "a great stylist." 

In this sense, Goethe, Manzoni, Hugo, Flaubert, and Stevenson are 
eminent stylists. 

150 



STYLE 151 

122. Objective and Subjective Aspects. — The fully objec- 
tive aspects of style appear directly in the external struc- 
ture, and are readily distinguished from the author's 
intention and the reader's interpretation. 

The differences between vowel melody and consonantal friction, the 
interrogative and the imperative sentence, or iambic and anapestic 
rhythm, are external, and may be examined without reference to their 
shade of meaning. (Compare the structural details noticed in Sections 
8, 9, 19, 23-24, and passim in Chapter I.) Only when this meaning is 
considered, does one pass into the study of style, properly speaking. 

The frequency of such words as u fortune," " good-breeding," " gen- 
tleman,*' u manners," etc., in Jane Austen, suggests elegance as a quality 
of her own mind. Defoe's itemized lists of articles, and his numerical 
division of expository passages indicate concreteness in his observation 
and thought. The elaborate divisions of the Comedie Humaine — 
paragraph, set dramatic speech, all kinds of document, part and book 
— are evidences of complexity in Balzac's own nature. 

(See the footnote, page 24.) 

But language is the most subjective of all artistic medi- 
ums, except possibly musical sound, and it is convenient 
to give a wider meaning to objectivity. Whatever values 
are determined by a general social consent, as distinguished 
from the individual interpretation of writer or reader, may 
be considered as at least semi-objective. 

In the sentence, " She's a very pretty, nice girl, isn't she, Nancy?" 
the simplicity is fully objective — clearly marked in vocabulary and 
syntax ; the degree of pathos depends on the reader's power of memory 
and imaginative association, with reference to the whole plot. In the 
sentence, " All I say is, it's a lovely carkiss," the htwior in the mispro- 
nounced word and the unusual phrase appeals to the majority of 
readers, as it did to the author. (Examples from Silas Marner, 
Chapters XX and VI.) 

123. Qualities of Style. — The above analysis suggests 
that the qualities most clearly stylistic are such as have 
both objective and subjective significance. Ductility can 



152 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

be predicated only of matter, timidity, only of the mind ; 
complexity and concreteness may appear both in the mate- 
rial structure and in the mental attitude. 

This distinction is blurred by the common application to the mind, 
in a figurative sense, of qualities such as weight, color, and smoothness, 
which refer in a literal sense only to matter. The analysis here in 
question is a practical one, without attention to psychological subtlety. 

For ordinary purposes, any quality of mind may be called stylistic 
when it is revealed by the objective structure. Introspection is dis- 
covered in George Eliot by such words as " memory," " consciousness, 1 ' 
" self-questioning, 1 ' and " rumination " ; though language itself, viewed 
as audible sound, is not introspective. 

124. Types of Style. — A fairly determinate combination 
of qualities, characteristic of a certain source, kind, or 
medium of expression, may be called a type. Types may 
be based on forms of art — e.g. architectural, literary; on 
kinds of literature — e.g. novelistic, epic; on rhetorical 
form — e.g. descriptive, narrative ; on schools or periods 
in artistic history — e.g. pseudo-classical ; on nationality, 
race, or individuality. 

Style is the immediate expression of an individual mind, 
but the individual is always modified by the thought and 
feeling of social groups, and is representative of human 
nature in general. Some critics incline to limit the study 
of style to the first of these values, but the wider view 
appeals to those interested in the social meaning of art. 

Some types of style having particular association, in various degrees, 
with the history of fiction, are the Euphuistic, picaresque, Rabelaisian, 
heroic, and naturalistic. Such broad types as the last, and the senti- 
mental, pastoral, romantic, and realistic, may be studied with sole 
reference to the novel, but they are really general aesthetic types, and 
are often more profitably examined as such. 

125. Value of Style in the Novel. — Style in the first 
sense given in Section 121 is worth careful study in any 



STYLE 153 

great or widely representative novel; in the other and 
narrower meanings, style is a very variable value in fic- 
tion. On the whole, the novel has not been characterized 
by such adequacy or conscious control in the details of 
expression, as the drama, epic, or short story. The length 
of the novel and its amorphous nature are somewhat 
antagonistic to perfect, sustained correspondence of lan- 
guage with delicate shades of thought and feeling. Such 
intensive ideals of style, aesthetic or psychological, as those 
of Poe or Professor Raleigh, 1 require the short story rather 
than the novel for satisfactory embodiment. The frequent 
mention of the laborious apprenticeship of Maupassant and 
the strenuous efforts of Stevenson, possibly indicates the 
rarity of such stylistic conscience in the field of fiction. 
The value of style varies greatly in different national 
literatures, as well as in individuals. In the main, French 
and Italian fiction are of more eminent excellence, in this 
respect, than English or German. 

The numerous inconsistences in Cervantes, Rabelais, and Scott are 
well-known. If Robinson Crusoe was really intended to be allegorical, 
Defoe has not clearly impressed this idea upon the reader of the first 
and second parts. Balzac, Flaubert, and Zola do not adequately carry 
out in practise their ideals of realism. 

In longer works, a frequent cause of imperfect style is radical change 
of plan or extended interval during the course of composition. Com- 
pare Don Quixote, Gil Bias, Joseph Andrews, Waverley, and Wilhelm 
Meister. Spielhagen traces the tangled structure of Middlemarch 
largely to the change of conception after the novel was begun, and 
emphasizes the necessity and difficulty of keeping a single point of 
view throughout a work. 2 

Among novels in which style is of exceptional importance are Atala, 
Taras Bulba, La Peau de Chagrin, II Trionfo della Morte. Perhaps 
d' Annunzio is the greatest living stylist in the domain of the novel. 

1 See his monograph on Style. 

2 Technik des Romans : Der Held im Roman, 



154 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

126. The Novelistic Type. — The novel has always had 
aesthetic enemies who have denied it any distinctive style ; 
and its friends have not always offered a spirited defense. 
For something like a century, however, serious criticism 
has given the novel its own peculiar and respectable place 
among literary types. According to Lanson, it became 
a grand genre x in the early part of the last century. 

The novel is sometimes considered as essentially de- 
scriptive, sometimes as mainly narrative, and again as a 
characteristic combination of descriptive and narrative 
styles. Some of the best German and French critics 
approach it as a species of the generic " epic " type. 

Artand calls Ivanhoe " la veritable epope'e du moyen age," 2 and an 
anonymous romanticist adds that " since Homer, the epic has been 
given only three new forms, one by Dante, one by Ariosto, one by 
Scott." 3 Compare Spielhagen: "Der historische und der moderne 
Romane sind die beiden Erben des alten Epos ; " 4 other passages in 
the same work, and in German aesthetics and poetics generally. 

Many critics have defined the novel by comparison and 
contrast with the drama; and others note the frequent 
inclusion of the lyrical spirit. (See the glossary, under 
"lyrical.") 

In a liberal interpretation of style, Clarissa might be analyzed as an 
example of the dramatic type ; I Promessi Sposi, of the descriptive ; 
Robinson Crusoe, of the narrative ; and Atala, of the lyrical. 

127. Novelistic Qualities. — Each important kind of 
novel has some fairly determinate qualities of its own ; 
as for example, elegance in the heroic romance, simplesse 
in pastoral romance, weirdness in Gothic romance, and 
democracy in the picaresque novel. 

1 See the glossary. 2 Maigron, p. 150. 3 Ibid., p. 152. 

4 Technik des Romans; Finder oder Erfinder. 



STYLE 155 

In the following sections, no attention can be paid to these distinc- 
tions, or to the fascinating study of style in the individual novel. The 
aim is to examine such qualities as are historically found in the novel 
as a generic type, or are emphasized in important theories of the novel. 
The analysis may perhaps be suggestive of further study and more 
satisfactory statement of results. 

128. Comprehensiveness. — According to Spielhagen, 
"ist der epische Stoff unendlich," 1 and the novelist 
should give the reader the " moglichst vollkommene Ueber- 
sicht der Breite und Weite des Menschenlebens. " 2 Breadth 
of view is to be found in the plot, characters, settings, and 
generalizations. The Shakespearian drama is in some 
respects not so all-inclusive as many of the great novels 
of Europe. 

Balzac includes almost every variety of document in the Comedie 
Humaine ; Shakespeare is in the main limited to the epistolary form. 
The dramatist gives a very restricted view of Christian thought, of 
democratic ideals, and of the daily life of the common people. In the 
last point, compare Fielding, or any picaresque novel ; in the matter of 
religion, compare Wilhelm Meister, Robinson Crusoe, ValdeV La Fe, 
Quo Vadis, or Callista. 

The opposite quality of concentration is characteristic 
of the lyric, and, to a great extent, of the short story. One 
might turn to the latter as Wordsworth turned to the 
sonnet, weary of the "weight of too much liberty ; " but 
the amorphous freedom of the novel, though sometimes 
offensive to creative or critical ideals, has, for centuries, 
proved attractive to many minds desiring an expansive 
mental outlook. 

The novelist himself is usually extremely broad in 
interests, ideals, and experience. As a class, novelists 
have been men of the world, travelers, wide readers and 

1 Technik des Romans; Das Gebiet des Romans. 

2 Ibid. ; Novelle oder Roman. Compare his frequent use of " Totalitat." 



156 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

students, philosophers in spirit if not in accomplishment. 
To no small extent the novel has resisted the modern 
tendency toward specialization in science, art, and life 
itself. The pure specialist would not and could not write 
a great representative novel. 

Balzac was interested in law, medicine, theology, music, journalism, 
and politics. Examine the outer and inner history of Cervantes, Rabe- 
lais, Fielding, Thackeray, and Tolstoi. Goethe is one of the most com- 
prehensive minds of his century, and his novels are a logical part of 
his self-expression. The women novelists of eminence — Maria Edge- 
worth, Madame de Stael, George Sand, George Eliot — have been among 
the most advanced minds of their time. 

In breadth of knowledge and speculation, the philoso- 
pher doubtless bears away the palm from the novelist. 
Bacon, Humboldt, Lotze, Spencer, have no rivals in fiction, 
so measured. Large knowledge of mathematics or of 
natural science is rare in the novelists. On the other 
hand, the novelist may often claim a wider experience 
in personal emotion and passion, a broader domain of 
natural and social imagery; and his world is always a 
combination of observed and created data. 

129. Objectivity. — All style has a certain objectivity, as 
noted in Section 122, but in a special sense this quality 
is characteristic of the "epic" imagination, and of an 
ideal of the novel which influences much theory and 
practise. 

The social sense in the novelist and the social element 
in the novel itself, are related to this quality. Compara- 
tively few great novels were written from purely lyrical 
impulse — from the mere craving for self-expression. The 
sense of an audience has been strong in the history of 
fiction, whether directly expressed, as in the phrase " gen- 
tle reader " (centuries old), or implied in choice of subject 



STYLE 157 

and treatment. In all novels the influence of the social 
consciousness, in respect to time, place, character, man- 
ners, and ideas, is incalculable. In personal life, the 
representative novelist has been a considerable figure in 
society. 

Observation is another phase of the objective quality, 
as it appears in the novel. Realism is concerned, for re- 
ality is distinguished from unreality largely by the test of 
objective value. 

A sketch of the history of this quality in English fiction 
might be interesting. The following are fragmentary 
data. Impersonality is the dominant note from Morte 
d' Arthur, with its epic tradition, to the middle of the 
eighteenth century. In neither Euphues, Rosalind, nor 
Jack Wilton does the author appear in propria persona, 
Defoe has a remarkable power of close observation and 
description, and of " self-estrangement " in narrative. Few 
of the experiences recorded in Colonel Jacque, The Plague 
Year, or Robinson Crusoe were part of his personal his- 
tory. Richardson chose a form which naturally required 
dramatic objectivity. Jane Austen is in many ways more 
impersonal than Shakespeare, with whom she has been 
compared. (As interesting exceptions, compare the transi- 
tional sentence, "/ come now," etc., in Chapter XXXVI 
of Sense and Sensibility, with the example noted in 
Section 56.) 

The influence of Fielding, Smollett, and Sterne was 
largely in the opposite direction. The romanticists are 
habitually lyrical, coloring their whole view of life by 
personal experience, and the moods of their individual 
temperaments. The realistic reaction has produced a 
new phase of objectivity, more determined and conscious 
than any that preceded. 



158 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Spielhagen lays frequent stress upon objectivity as an ideal. Com- 
pare the essay on Objektivitat im Roman (Vermischte Schriften), and 
numerous passages in the Technik des Romans. — " Das Gesetz der 
Objektivitat. Sie ist fur ihn [the novelist] das strikteste Gesetz." — It 
is not so important for the novelist, " dass die Welt ihn begreift, als 
dass er die Welt begreift." — A consistent objectivity is not easily at- 
tained, in our introspective age, but the artist " strebt durchaus nach 
Totalitat des Weltbildes." — It is an insult to the reader to explain the 
characters to him. (Compare Section ioo.) 

Verga is perhaps the greatest recent representative of realistic theory 
and practise in Italy. Note the remarkable third paragraph of L 'Amante 
di Gramigna: "Intanto io credo che il trionfo del romanzo ... si 
raggiungera allorche F affinita e la coesione di ogni sua parte sara cosi 
completa che il processo della creazione rimarra un mistero, come lo 
svolgersi delle passioni umane ; e che F armonia delle sue forme sara 
cosi perfetta, la sincerita. della sua realta cosi evidente, il suo modo e 
la sua ragione di essere cosi necessarie, che la mano dell' artista rimarra 
assolutamente invisible, e il romanzo avra Fimpronta dell' avvenimento 
reale, e F opera d' arte sembrera essersi fatta da si, aver maturato ed 
esser s6rta spontanea come un fatto naturale, senza serbare alcun punto 
di contatto col suo autore," etc. 

The above doctrine comes into apparent conflict with 
impressionistic theory, represented in Henry James* defini- 
tion of the novel as a a personal impression of life ; " 1 but 
even in this conception it is an impression of life that is 
desired, not an introspective view of the world within the 
artist's mind. 

130. Concreteness The novelist aims to produce an 

illusion of life by means of " solidity of specification " 2 
in vocabulary, characters, dialogue, settings, events, and 
ideas. When he explores the territory of modern sociol- 
ogy, psychology, or history, he finds himself in a region 
of almost oppressive detail. It is partly this attention to 
minute detail that suggests the satirical view of the novel 

1 Art of Fiction. 2 Ibid. 



STYLE 159 

as essentially feminine, or, as one critic states it, " gossip 
etherealized." 1 

The opposite quality of vagueness may be studied in the 
ballad and the lyric. Classicism, with its preference for 
type over individual, has never aided much in the develop- 
ment of the novel. A mind primarily interested in the 
abstract values of experience would not enter the field of 
the novel with zest, or much probability of success. Emer- 
son moves habitually from the concrete toward the abstract. 
Bacon, in the Wisdom of the Ancients, changes semi- 
novelistic material into anti-novelistic. Balzac "bodies 
forth " his general ideas of life in what is perhaps the 
greatest exhibition of individualized detail in the history 
of art. (The detail of a great cathedral is immeasurable, 
but much of it is typical.) 

In vocabulary, an interesting comparison may be made between 
Bacon's essay on Youth and Age, and the treatment of the same theme 
in Silas Marner. 

Bacon has many such expressions as settled business ; conduct and 
manage of actions ; consideration of means and degrees ; powers of 
understanding ; virtues of the will and affections, etc. 

In Silas Marner there are more than a score of expressions referring 
to Eppie in which the adjectives " little," " small," or a tiny " are used 
— little one ; like a small mouse ; little naked foot ; deep little puss ; 
etc. Note also the concreteness of many other phrases : a small 
boy without shoes or stockings ; blond dimpled girl of eighteen ; face 
now bordered by gray hairs ; a voice that quavered a good deal ; feeble 
old man of fourscore and six ; simple old fellow, etc. 

In characterization, compare the heroine of an Elizabethan sonnet 
sequence with any novelistic heroine. In Astrophel and Stella, Stella 
is not directly quoted at all, is described almost entirely in conven- 
tional manner, and appears in only some half-dozen specific incidents 
or settings. 

Spielhagen expresses the relation between comprehensiveness and 

1 Dallas : The Gay Science. 



160 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

concreteness as a " Widerspruch zwischen dem epischen Mittel der 
konkreten Darstellung und dem unausrottbaren Zuge der epischen 
Phantasie in das . . . Grenzenlose." 1 

131. Complexity. — The novelist cannot lose himself 
entirely in the outer world, like the scientist, or in the 
realm of personal feeling, like the lyric poet. He must 
combine these two regions of experience as best he may. 
In novelistic form, the problem of synchronization, the 
frequent changes from dramatic to non-dramatic structure, 
and from the specific to the general, are among the com- 
plicating elements. The hero of a representative novel is 
more complex in character and experience than the average 
hero of ballad or epic. In historical fiction, the twofold 
consciousness — of the present and the past — is often 
highly complex. Other aspects of this quality have been 
suggested in the preceding chapters. 

The great novelists have generally been individuals of 
pronounced complexity, in nature or experience. This 
seems particularly true of some of the Russian novelists — 
Gogol, Dostoyevsky, and Tolstoi among them. The man 
of entirely "simple life" may possibly be a reader of 
novels, but it is difficult to imagine him as an habitual 
novel-writer. 

The novel has flourished most in periods of complex 
social life, when antagonistic currents of thought were 
meeting, giving rise to social, ethical, and aesthetic prob- 
lems. The origin of the form was in the sophism of 
Greek decadence; its second birth coincides with the 
conflict of Renaissance and medieval spirit; its develop- 
ment in the eighteenth century is related to the battles 
of pseudo-classicism with romanticism, scepticism with a 

1 Technik des Romans; Der Held im Roman. 



STYLE l6l 

revival of faith, and monarchism with democracy ; its 
full fruition is associated with the complicated mental and 
social life of our own era. In fact, the specific function 
of the novel, according to many critics, is the portrayal, 
possibly to some extent the solution, of the complexity of 
modern experience, material and moral. 

St7nplesse * has been characteristic of more than one school of 
novelists, but rarely if ever a true simfilicite. Pastoralism, as before 
suggested, offers a good example of this distinction. 

132. Secularity. — If one considers the religious ten- 
dency in its extreme form of asceticism, the secularity of 
the novel is readily perceived. The priest is an important 
character in fictions as various as Robinson Crusoe, Mrs. 
Radcliffe's Italian, Romola, Barchester Towers, and Quo 
Vadis, but the authors' interest in him is not mainly 
religious, and he appears in a secular environment. The 
language of intensely religious life may be introduced, but 
it does not give dominant tone to any great novel. Even 
in the "religious novel," the secularity becomes clearly 
defined if comparison is made with such works as the 
Apocalypse, Saint Augustine's Confessions, or the Imita- 
tion of Christ. The Biblical fictions of Ruth and Esther 
are surprisingly non-religious in tone ; the latter, so far as 
direct evidence is given, being practically atheistic. 

Both the cosmopolitanism and the nationalism of the 
novel are quite independent of ecclesiastical interest. 
The catholicity of fiction is that of general culture, or of 
modern democracy; its patriotism is political, historical, 
social, or aesthetic, rarely religious in any definite sense. 
When the novelist has given an extended consideration to 
the church, he has usually expressed little satisfaction in 

1 See Matthew Arnold: On Translating Horner; Last Words. 



162 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

its concrete conditions, and has often been antagonistic to 
its fundamental principles and purposes. This statement 
does not imply that the novel is anti-religious, though this 
is of course true in isolated cases. 

The general secularity of the great novelists as individuals and of 
the chief periods of novelistic activity requires no discussion. Spiel- 
hagen gives a vigorous summary of the whole matter: the novelist 
occupies a position "auf dieser unserer Erde, der festgegrundeten, 
dauernden, die nicht eine Vorstufe des Himmels oder der Holle ist, 
sondern der Grund und Urgrund, aus dem unsere Leiden und Freuden 
quellen, das Rhodus, auf dem wir tanzen mlissen, es tanze sich gut oder 
schlecht." l 

133. Humor. — This quality is perhaps logically de- 
duced from objectivity plus comprehensiveness. The 
tragic depends largely on concentrated intensity, and 
subjective attitude toward life. It is hardly possible for 
a normal mind to conceive the general course of society 
as entirely tragic, and personal tragedy becomes less em- 
phatic by contact with broad impersonal interests. The 
existence of morbidly tragic fiction may be explained by 
temporary social or individual conditions, rather than the 
essential nature of the novel. Many of the great novelists 
have been masters of humor, and few of them have lacked 
a decided alloy of the quality. 

In the novelistic structure, the looseness of form, the 
trivial details in dialogue, settings, and incident, the great 
variety of interests and of aesthetic values, are causes or 
results of humor. A sharp separation of the tragic and 
comic is less frequent than in eighteenth century drama, 
and the interweaving of the two is generally less formal 
than in Shakespearian drama. Humor is often essential 
to the production of realistic illusion, and an important 

1 Technik des Romans; Das Gebiet des Romans. 



STYLE 163 

agent in unifying the entire plan of a novel. It may 
appear in the characters themselves ; or, as in Fielding 
and Thackeray, largely in the author's personal attitude. 

The modes of humor, in a generic sense, may vary from 
caricature, through wit, satire, and irony, to a general 
sanity of view. Its relations to pathos have been fre- 
quently studied in criticism. 

Caricature is common in Smollett and his disciple Dickens ; wit is 
characteristic of Lyly and George Meredith ; satire, of a savage type at 
times, may be studied in Swift and Gogol; irony is characteristic of 
Fielding, Jane Austen, and Thackeray; sanity of view is well repre- 
sented in Trollope and Howells, among the realists, and in Scott, among 
the romanticists. The humor that is akin to pathos is familiar in Cer- 
vantes, Sterne, and Goldsmith. 

134. Ideality. — All artistic narrative must be imagina- 
tive to an appreciable degree, but the novel is ideal 
primarily because it is fictitious narrative. Pure observa- 
tion or logical induction from observation could never 
produce any novel : there must be strong persistent 
momentum toward the creation of character and incident 
in order to fashion a worthy novel. Genius is the first 
divinity in Fielding's invocation. (Tom Jones ; XIII, 1.) 

On the other hand, even in the wildest romance, the 
foundations are in reality, and the relations of the imagi- 
native to the real offer a fascinating study in every fiction. 
Idealization assumes many forms — selection or re-combi- 
nation of real data ; creation of ideal individuals modeled 
upon real types ; allegory, symbolism, etc. Ideality may 
be studied in every element of the novel, from the single 
effect to the plan as a whole. Perhaps the plot is the 
most satisfactory basis for a single general test of the 
imaginative power. (Compare Section 43.) 



1 64 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

In Silas Marner, the coming of Eppie is a more imaginative type of 
incident than the conversation at the Rainbow. Probably nowhere 
else in fiction, and so far as the author knew, never in real experience, 
had a waif child come from its dead mother to a lonely workman. A 
group of country laborers conversing at the village inn, on the contrary, 
is a common scene in life and in art. Of course this episode is highly 
imaginative in details of individual character and speech. 

In Robinson Crusoe, the footprint on the sand is probably a unique 
single effect ; and the detailed picture of Robinson's homemaking is 
remote from anything Defoe had observed or read. The general con- 
ception of a man left alone for years on an island far from civilization 
was given to Defoe by another writer. 

In Ivanhoe, the tournament, the castle siege, and the life of Robin 
Hood's band, in their general idea, are not proof of great imagination 
in the author. Of the visit of Richard to Friar Tuck, Scott himself 
says, u The general tone of the story belongs to all ranks and all coun- 
tries n ; * and he refers to his own particular model. 

The distinction between imagination and fancy was 
elaborated by Coleridge and his contemporaries. 2 Of the 
two, imagination is the main expressive quality in all great 
novels, but the fanciful may serve as a decorative element, 
and add much to the total interest. 

In Silas Marner, the description of Eppie's wedding dress, the picture 
of Nancy on horseback, and the dialogic form of Godfrey's argument 
with Anxiety might be called fanciful. There is comparatively little 
fancy in Jane Austen, but much in The Castle of Otranto. The charac- 
ters of The Gold-bug are mainly imaginative, but some of the incidents 
are fanciful. To many readers, much of the figurative language of 
George Meredith shows the caprice of pure fancy. 

i35» Force. — Objectively, this quality may appear in 
nature, man, or the supernatural ; revealing itself either in 
activity or in endurance. Respecting rhetorical form, it is 
apparent in rapidity of narration, vigor of description, and 

1 Introduction of 1830. 

2 See Professor Cook's edition of Leigh Hunt's What is Poetry ? 



STYLE 165 

intensity of lyrical feeling. In spite of Goethe's theory 
of a passive hero for the novel (see Section 82), there 
are many examples of notable activity. The actions of a 
dramatic hero may reveal a greater intensity, but range 

and duration of achievement are other elements to be 

i 

examined. 

Hamlet breaks a woman's heart, awes his mother, escapes from 
pirates, and kills his enemies. Robinson Crusoe makes a fortune, 
destroys wild beasts, domesticates others, forms many new acquaint- 
ances, travels in three continents, founds a miniature state, converts 
savages, and saves his own soul. He is in most respects much more 
a master of circumstances than Hamlet, Macbeth, or Othello. 

In the novelist himself, force is necessary for the large 
plan of a work, and still more for the laborious execution. 
A weak or impatient mind could not complete a long and 
complicated novel ; much less such extended series as the 
Waverley Novels or the Comedie Humaine. In many 
novelists moral force appears also in antagonism to social 
evils and in ideals of social reform, or in earnest devotion 
to high conceptions of art. 

136. Other Qualities. — Many other qualities may be 
desirable in the novel — for example, elegance and clear- 
ness — without being essential to its type. Figures of 
speech may be studied, as in other forms of literature, but 
they seem to have less characteristic significance for the 
novel than for the epic and lyric. 

In all dramatic structure, propriety is obviously an essen- 
tial quality. Comment on its violation, in both epistolary 
and dialogic form, has been previously given. 



f 



CHAPTER IX % 

THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION 

137. Value of the Study. — Some critics give little atten- 
tion to the process by which a work of art comes into 
existence ; others consider this one of the most important 
matters in the study of an art, even for those who do not 
practise it. As a typical process, the composition of novels 
throws light on the general nature of artistic creation, and 
is a fascinating phase of the imaginative ' effort of the 
mind, in its entirety. In an individual novel, many struc- 
tural details cannot be understood fully, and the examina- 
tion of style cannot be satisfactory, without some knowledge 
of the evolution of that particular novel. 

Critics who are also novelists — Scott, Spielhagen, 1 and 
Zola, for example — and all critics with deep psychologi- 
cal interest naturally incline to emphasize the creative 
process. 

138. The Data for Study. — External data are to be 
found in prefaces, letters, and other biographical and auto- 
biographical records. The internal data are often less 
tangible, and close scrutiny may be required before a true 
interpretation can be given. Evidences of alteration of 
plan, rapid or labored writing, inspiration or fatigue, and 
detailed revision, however, are sometimes quite apparent. 

1 See his essay, Finder oder Erfinder, in the Technik des Romans. This 
essay suggests that aesthetics has not given sufficient attention to the process 
of composition; and it discusses several of the topics noticed in the present 
chapter. 

166 



THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION 1 67 

For a thorough study, one would naturally select a novel 
that represents an extended process, of which a fairly full 
history is accessible. For practical method, the student 
may examine the internal evidence, and then compare it 
with the external, or vice versa. He may follow, so far as 
possible, the actual process of the author, or endeavor to 
trace the evolution of the novel backward from the com- 
pleted form to the original starting-point 

Many novelists, especially in recent years, have given the student 
confidential knowledge of their methods. Much valuable material is 
to be found in the autobiographical writings of Goethe, Scott, George 
Eliot, Trollope, and Stevenson. See also the bibliography, under 
Besant, Cody, Henry James, Frank Norris, and W. E. Norris. 

139. The Germ of the Work. — The original conception 
of a novel may be small or large, vague or definite, subjec- 
tive or objective. It may be still dominant in the com- 
pleted work ; but the process of composition is so complex 
that the first idea is often greatly transformed, and scarcely 
discoverable by internal evidence. It may be possible to 
state clearly whether the novel began with character, set- 
ting, incident, or theme. The "plot-germ," in a technical 
sense, is not necessarily the original point in the design as 
a whole. Again, the first impulse may be awakened by 
literature, personal experience, present or past, or by 
observation. 

In the novel, as contrasted with the short story and 
particularly with the lyric, the typical origin would seem 
to be in some real sense, objective. A pure lyric often 
originates in a vague subjective mood, emotional or even 
sensational — according to Wordsworthian formula, in the 
"spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings." The ideal 
origin of a song is perhaps a mood of purely rhythmical 



1 68 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

impulse, without definite content of any kind. Some 
weight of intellectual substance and some outline of con- 
scious design generally accompany the first conception of 
a novel. The romance may often resemble the lyric. 

Theory and practise do not always agree, but both 
should be studied. Brunetiere 1 believes that a novel 
should begin from an insistent internal idea, and the 
materials in which to embody the idea should be found 
later. In more detail, he gives three desirable origins for 
a novel — a story to tell ; a character seen ; a psychologi- 
cal analysis. 2 Poe's idea that a composition should origi- 
nate in the catastrophe may doubtless be exemplified 
from the novel, but seems more generally applicable to 
the short story. (Compare Section 80.) The germinal 
idea of a sonnet is often found in the last lines. 

The origin of Waverley is given by Scott, in the preface of 1829: 
" My early recollections of the Highland scenery and customs made so 
favorable an impression in the . . . i Lady of the Lake,' that I was in- 
duced to attempt something of the same kind in prose. I was acquainted 
with many of the old warriors of 1745 and it occurred to me that the 
ancient traditions and high spirit of a people, who, living in a civilized 
age and country, retained so strong a tincture of manners belonging to 
an early period of society, would afford a subject favorable for romance." 
The origin of many of the other Waverley Novels is given in Scott's 
various introductory comments. 

George Eliot gives the origin of Silas Marner in a letter to Black- 
wood, February 24, 1861 : "It came to me quite suddenly as a sort of 
legendary tale, suggested by my recollection of having once, in early 
childhood, seen a linen-weaver with a bag on his back." This seems 
like a lyrical germ, and it is interesting to note the author's tendency 
toward a metrical version of the story. The germ of Adam Bede is given 
in the journal entry for November 16, 1858. Romola originated in the 
visit to Florence, in i860. (For the history of these and other novels 
see Cross' Life.) 

1 Roman Naturaliste, p. 122. * Ibid., p. 115. 



THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION 169 

Fielding began Joseph Andrews as a parody on Pamela. Serious or 
satirical imitation of other fictions is a typical origin for the novel. — 
Pepita Jimenez was suggested by a reading of the Spanish mystics of 
the seventeenth century. — The Castle of Otranto originated in a dream. 
— Frankenstein was a deliberately planned ghost story, due to a social 
" group-impulse." — Wertherreay be considered as originally a kind of 
lyrical confession. — D'Azeglio's Ettorre Fieramosca was suggested from 
a painting by the author. Compare some of the poems of D. G. Ros- 
setti. — The practical impulse which produced Rasselas was Johnson's 
purpose to pay his mother's debts and funeral expenses. 

140. The Plan, — The completed plan of a novel in- 
cludes all the relations of dramatis personae, plot, settings, 
and subject-matter, the shaping of the language, and the 
method of external division. For a lyric, the entire plan 
may spring into being almost instantaneously. After some 
practise in sonnet-writing, the outline of a whole sonnet, 
and a distinct thought, image, or shade of feeling for each 
structural division, may appear together. In the novel, 
this is practically impossible. While a general plan for 
the whole work may often be coincident with the germinal 
idea, many of the details must wait until the actual process 
of execution has determined them. Nor is it probable that 
many novelists have made out even a complete general plan 
before beginning to write, as Rossetti is said to have done, 
in prose, for the House of Life. 1 Often the first general 
design undergoes great changes after the novel is partly 
written. 

Scott's introductory matter furnishes many examples of general 
design. He seems to have had a fairly definite plan for most of the 
single novels, and for small groups, but never a completely unifying 
plan for the Waverley Novels as a series. The general design of The 
Monastery was "to conjoin two characters in that bustling and con- 
tentious age, who, thrown into situations which gave them different 

1 Spielhagen notices this matter ; Technik des Romans, p. 30. 



170 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

views on the subject of the Reformation, should, with the same sincer- 
ity and purity of intention, dedicate themselves, the one to the support 
of the sinking fabric of the Catholic Church, the other to the establish- 
ment of the Reformed doctrines." (Introduction of 1830.) This ele- 
ment of conscious contrast is conspicuous in Scott's original plans. (For 
alteration of first designs, see Introductions to Guy Mannering, 1829, 
and Redgauntlet, 1832.) 

George Eliot first thought of making Adam Bede one of the Scenes 
of Clerical Life. She afterwards "began to think of blending this 
[story of the executed woman] and some other recollections of my aunt 
in one story, with some points in my father's early life and character. 
The problem of construction that remained was to make the unhappy 
girl one of the chief dramatis personae, and [connect [her with the hero 
. . . the scene in the prison being, of course, the climax towards which 
I worked." Dorothy Brooke was the original heroine of Middlemarch, 
which was first called " Miss Brooke." The [Mill on the Floss began 
publication as " Sister Maggie." 

One of the largest designs in the history of fiction is found in the 
Comedie Humaine. An extended exposition of it is given in the preface 
to the Peau de Chagrin, 1842. 

The general plan of Pepita Jimenez was a a representation of this 
divine ardor [religious mysticism] brought face to face with an earthly 
love and worsted by it." (See Gosse's introduction to English trans- 
lation.) So stated, the design is not an uncommon one. — The original 
plan which resulted in Taras Bulba was to write histories of Little 
Russia and the Middle Ages. (Waliszewski.) — Silas Marner was begun 
without definite plan for its length, and Ettorre Fieraniosca, without idea 
how it would end. 

141. The Sources. — The materials for a novel maybe 
mainly in the mind of the novelist when the original plan 
is made, or they may be sought for afterwards. The im- 
mediate sources are always closely related to the personal- 
ity of the author; the ultimate sources are social, and may 
be very difficult to trace. 

In most novels there is an intricate mingling of the more 
subjective and the more objective materials. Romance 
may be largely subjective, but for the novel proper, the 



THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION 171 

canon of objectivity (see Section 129) demands extended 
observation of the outer world. Subjective material may- 
belong to recent experience, or to remote memory; but 
memory allowed to dominate could not produce a repre- 
sentative novel. Few great novels could be adequately 
described as "emotion recollected in tranquillity." The 
creative element is always essential, and may be con- 
sidered as belonging to the subjective material. 

Observation takes many forms. The source of much 
material for the novel is in literature itself — in biography, 
history, essay, novel, and drama. 

George Eliot gained a part of the Jewish material for Daniel 
Deronda, and some of her knowledge of inundations for The Mill on 
the Floss, by vigorous search of libraries. While Scotfs theory of his- 
torical composition was that a period already familiar to the novelist 
should be chosen, he apologizes for the errors in Anne of Geierstein on 
the ground that he was away from his library. (Introduction of 1831.) 
The source of the main theme of Ivanhoe — the contrast of Celt and 
Saxon — was in an obscure drama, Logan's Runnimede. The novel- 
ization of dramas has been much less common than the opposite 
process. 1 

Consultation with other persons has been a source of 
material in many novels. 

Scott observed and questioned many representatives of an earlier 
generation, for legendary matter and local manners. Gogol consulted 
his mother for peasant material, and Pushkin was indebted to his old 
serf nurse for national songs and traditions. George Eliot sought pro- 
fessional advice regarding the legal element in Felix Holt. 

Travel, whether for general purposes or for the sake of 
an individual novel, has long been a common method of 
obtaining materials. 

1 Professor C. F. McClumpha gives an extended comparison of Greene's 
Alcida and Lyly's Love's Metamorphosis, on which it was founded, in The 
Minnesota Magazine for October, 1899. 



172 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Browning's life of George Eliot mentions her visits to Cambridge, 
Oxford, and Florence as yielding new fabric for novelistic weaving. 
Scott records that his trip around the coast of Scotland, in 1814, was 
for the purpose of gathering data for the Lord of the Isles, with a view 
to prose fiction also. (Introduction to The Pirate, 1832.) 

That method of observation which takes the form of 
very exact intellectual attention to details — reportage — is 
condemned by more than one critic. 

Brunetiere writes : 1 " U observation devient moins large a mesure 
qu'elle devient plus exacte, plus precise, plus microscopique et, par con- 
sequent, a mesure, s'e'loigne da vantage de la nature meme et de la veriteV' 
Lanson comments on the note-taking habits of the Goncourt brothers 
and Daudet. Scott in general followed an older method — the method 
which produced the Duddon River sonnets of Wordsworth — " It was 
not the purpose of the author to present a landscape copied from nature, 
but a piece of composition, in which a real scene, with which he is already 
familiar, had afforded him some leading outlines. " (Introduction to 
The Monastery, 1830. Compare Section 84.) 

Many writers agree that the principal characters of a 
novel are often modeled after real persons, but many also 
insist that the ultimate portrait should bear slight resem- 
blance to the original. Novelists have frequently com- 
plained of the too curious attempt of readers to trace back 
the artistic result to the real source. 

As early as 1754, Sarah Fielding vigorously objected to this habit, 
and, a century later, Spielhagen criticized the same false tendency. 
Scott and Hawthorne received rebukes from persons connected with the 
real models for certain idealized characters or places. Probably the 
novelist is sometimes at fault, especially in the eighteenth century, when 
" secret histories " and caricature of contemporaries were so common. 

Among famous characters based to some degree on real models, out- 
side of historical fiction, are Robinson Crusoe, Pamela, Amelia, The 
Vicar of Wakefield, Meg Merrilies, Jeanie Deans, and Dinah Morris. 

1 Roman Naturaliste, p. 129. 



THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION 1 73 

142. The Time Perspective. — Poe's theory for the ideal 
short story, based on his general lyrical conception of art, 
was that it should be written at a single sitting. The 
novel more often has the contrasted interest of a prolonged 
process. Probably few of the world's greatest novels have 
occupied less than a year, from original plan to publica- 
tion. Literature does not demand a difficult physical 
execution, and it cannot rival the dignity of dramaturgy, 
painting, or sculpture in this respect. Even the time 
given to the Comedie Humaine sinks into insignificance, 
compared with that required for the construction of 
great cathedrals. 

The rate of composition varies not only for individual 
novelists, but for individual novels and passages. George 
Eliot wrote the eighth chapter of Amos Barton at a sitting, 
but at Dresden she produced little more than eight hun- 
dred words a day on Adam Bede. There may possibly 
be danger that too much time spent on a single work may 
destroy the subtle unity of emotional tone ; but on the other 
hand, a long process of thought may strengthen the 
intellectual unity of structure. Scott defends rapid com- 
position : — 

" The best authors in all countries have been the most voluminous. 
. . . The works and passages in which I have succeeded, have uni- 
formly been written with the greatest rapidity ; . . . the parts in which I 
have come feebly off, were by much the more labored." (Introductory 
Epistle, Fortunes of Nigel.) 

The testimony of the author himself is not always final authority. 
Beckford records of Vathek : "It took me three days and two nights of 
hard labor. I never took my clothes off the whole time." But Gar- 
nett, in the introduction to his edition of Vathek, shows that the actual 
time, including the revisions, was a matter of years instead of days. 



174 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Examples 

Adam Bede: story told by author's aunt, about 1840; retold to 
Lewes, and he suggests it is good material for fiction, December, 1856 ; 
writing begun, October 22, 1857 ; Chapter XIII finished, February 28, 
1858 ; Vol. I finished in March ; Vol. II begun about the middle of 
April ; Chapter XVIII completed, May 15 ; Chapter XX, May 26 ; the 
fight " came to me as a necessity," May 30 ; Chapter XXI, June 10 ; 
Chapter XXV, July 7 ; Vol. II finished, September 7 ; Chapter LII 
finished, October 29 ; work finished, November 16 ; published (de- 
layed on account of Bulwer's What will He do with It ?), February, 
1859. — Silas Marner : original conception, November, i860; sixty 
pages, November 28 ; 230 pages, February 15, 1861 ; finished March 10. 

Wilhelm Meister — Lehrjahre : planned in 1775; begun and Book I 
finished, 1777 ; Books II and III, 1782 ; Book IV, 1783 ; Book V, 1784 ; 
Book VI, 1785; some work done, 1786; finished and published, after 
interval of no work, 1796. — Wanderjahre: short stories written or 
collected, 1794; work finished and published, after some years of labor, 
1829. 

Rasselas : the evenings and nights of a single week. — Castle of 
Otranto: about two months. — Pamela: three months. — Robinson Cru- 
soe: April, 1 7 19 to August, 1720 (planned long before). — Gulliver: 
" probable that the composition extended over a good many years " 
(Gosse). — Don Quixote: many years. — W aver ley : begun and a third 
of first volume written, 1805 ; laid aside; last two volumes written in 
three weeks, 1814. — Gil Bias : 1715 to 1735. 

143. Technic of the Process. — Many of the great novel- 
ists from early times have had a lively interest in the 
technic of their art, but recently there has been unusual 
emphasis laid on the necessity of technical mastery. 
Such statements as the following are not exceptional : 1 — 

Walter Besant : " For every art there is the corresponding science 
which may be taught." — Cody : " This foolish dictum . . . that ' the best 
writers believe that the art of fiction cannot be taught or analyzed. 1 " 
— Frank Norris : " Even a defective system is — at any rate, in fiction — 
better than none." 

1 These quotations are from works listed in the bibliography. 



THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION 175 

With the idea of technic is associated the idea of labor. 
Many novelists and critics would agree in the main with 
Sir Joshua Reynolds, that the " dignity of a work of art 
depends on the amount and quality of mental labor em- 
ployed in its production,' , 1 etc. 

Balzac, Trollope, Spielhagen, and Howells are all exponents of the 
doctrine of labor, both in their theory and their practise. Trollope 
affirms, " there is no way of writing well, and also of writing easily. 1 ' 2 
Spielhagen says the germinal idea of a composition may be the gift of 
the gods, but after that, the rule is " diligence, diligence, diligence." 3 

The labor of the novelist, roughly stated, consists in 
planning, executing, and revising. The relations of these 
three processes, in sequence and in amount, vary of course 
with every novel In general, it is probable that the 
execution consumes more time than the other two tasks. 
The fact that there is no artistic physical process may be 
considered either an advantage or a disadvantage. 

Spielhagen traces four steps in the composition of a 
novel. 4 

The attention to technical details is often larger than the average 
reader might suppose. Richardson was fully conscious of the problems 
of epistolary form. Scott gave thoughtful consideration to such matters 
as titles, mottos, and dialogic connectives. George Eliot was well 
aware of the " two plots w in M iddlemarch. The treatment of the chapter 
as a perfectly distinct unit is carefully analyzed by Frank Norris. This 
last critic agrees substantially with Poe, in a general formula for the 
technical process — "in a phrase one could resume the whole system of 
fiction-mechanics — preparation of effect." 

The search for the mot propre on the part of certain French realistic 
" artists " is an exacting one. Manzoni spent considerable time in im- 
proving the dialect of I Promessi Sposi. The extensive revisions of 

1 Opening of Fourth Discourse. 

2 Barchester Towers, Vol I, Chapter XXX. 

3 Technik des Romans, pp. 25, S3' 4 Ibid., p. 29. 



176 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Balzac after "copy" was sent in ? were a terror to the printers. Scott 
gave relatively little labor to revision. (See his general introduction to 
the Waverley Novels, 1829.) 

The method of publication may be worthy of note in many cases. 
For some interesting details, see Cross' Life of George Eliot. Among 
long and notable fictions first appearing as periodical serials, are Anna 
Karenina and War and Peace. 

Other literary undertakings are frequently on hand while a novel is 
being written. George Eliot writes of Silas Marner as " thrusting itself 
between me and the other book [Romola] I was meditating." 

The practical phases of mechanical method — the time chosen for 
writing, the physical environment preferred, the use of stimulants, the 
preparation of copy, etc. — have their interest, and may at times be 
worth examination, in connection with the psychology of composition. 

144. Psychology of the Process. — The writing of a novel 
may always be viewed as an artificial process, to some 
degree, and it may involve considerable change of con- 
sciousness in the author. Robiati 1 distinguishes the 
" artistic personality " from the " human." It is said that 
professional humorists are often sedate or even melan- 
choly persons when free from literary pressure; and 
Mackenzie, the author of one of the most lacrimose of 
English fictions, was known as a cheerfully social being 
in private life. 

Some critics find in this transformation of the writer's 
mind a tendency toward the abnormal, or even the patho- 
logical. Nordau, in Degeneration, includes several novel- 
ists among his studies of literary degenerates. Rousseau 
had a theory that the novel in general was the product of 
degenerate conditions, and Carlyle at times held with more 
or less seriousness the idea that silence was an eminent 
characteristic of perfect sanity. 

In such authors as Swift, Gogol, Maupassant, and Nietzsche, the 
question merges into the larger one of the general relations of genius 

1 II Romanzo Contemporaneo in Italia. 



THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION 177 

and insanity. There are many less tragic examples of abnormal con- 
dition associated with literary labor. Scott was seriously affected by 
the excitement and fatigue of composition. Beckford states that the 
labor on Vathek made him " very sick." Cross, in his Life of George 
Eliot, speaks of Romola as " ploughing into " the author, and her own 
summary is, " I began it a young woman — I finished it an old woman." 
In spirit if not in letter, some of the greater novelists might describe 
their masterpiece as 

" . . . il poema sacro, 
Al quale ha posto mano e cielo e terra, 
Si che m' ha fatto per piu anni macro." 1 

Even the " cielo," broadly interpreted, is not always inappropriate to 
the novelist. Flaubert's "art was his religion." (Lanson; Gilbert.) 
Of the failure to combine the secular duty with the religious aspiration, 
George Eliot speaks bitterly, in Silly Novels by Lady Novelists : " as 
a general rule, the ability of a lady novelist to describe actual life and 
her fellow-men is in inverse proportion to her confident eloquence 
about God and the other world, and the means by which she usually 
chooses to conduct you to true ideas of the invisible is a totally false 
picture of the visible." 

During composition, a novelist may be conscious of his 
material, form, or purpose ; of the reader or of himself. He 
may concentrate his mind on one of these interests as a 
central point, or wander unsteadily from one to another. 
Completely developed realistic theory allows the author 
scarcely a standing-place, in his private personality. He 
must either lose himself in his characters and plot, or hold 
aloof from them, as impartial philosopher or pure " artist." 
These views of the relation of a novelist to his work sug- 
gest an interesting comparison with theories of histrionic 
art. 

The following notes may indicate the vast variety of 
data which could easily be collected on the matter of the 
author's center of consciousness (compare Section 129): — 

1 Paradiso, XXV, opening lines. 



178 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Compare the use of the word " puppet " for the dramatis personam, 
with the statement that to Balzac his characters were " more real than 
persons of flesh and blood." 

Scherer gives as the essence of George Eliot's method, "artistic 
inspiration, rapid work, and sense of compulsion." The last element 
is often mentioned as an essential in true artistic creation. Novelists 
also note that the unexpected is to be expected. 

Zola's theory of plot-composition as a kind of scientific experiment. 

According to Spielhagen, the novelist should work in an atmosphere 
of "ruhige Objektivitat." 

Scott testified that he "repeatedly laid down . . . future work to 
scale, divided it into volumes and chapters," etc., but that when the 
creative fever developed, he abandoned conscious plan for spontaneous 
imagination. 

Gilbert : 1 " Le grand dogme du realisme c'est l'impersonnalite' " 
(p. 161). "L'art pour Part" is discussed in Gilbert (pp. 122, 162), 
and Lanson 1 (p. 998). 

George Eliot is severe on those novelists who embody personal 
experience in their work, without great transformation. (Lady Nov- 
elists.) 

Cody : x u Self-consciousness during writing is most dangerous. No 
better way of escaping it than by a rigorous course of self-conscious 
preparation " (p. 40). 

Frank Norris : * " The moment, however, that the writer becomes 
really and vitally interested in his purpose, his novel fails." But if the 
purpose is part of the general philosophy of the novelist, it is not easily 
escaped. Gilbert notes that the theme of Madame Bovary is almost an 
idde fixe — " toujours la disproportion entre le reve et l'existence." 

Trollope criticizes the Radcliffian habit of mystification, and gives 
his own doctrine, "that the author and the reader should move along 
together in full confidence with each other." (Barchester Towers, Vol. 
I, Chapter 15.) 

The preceding paragraphs consider composition mainly 
from a statical point of view. It is much more complex 
when viewed as a continual though irregular development. 
It is doubtless impossible for any one not a novelist to 

1 Reference is to works listed in the bibliography. 



THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION 1 79 

realize this aspect of composition adequately. Theoreti- 
cally, some important phases of development are new con- 
ception or observation, selection, contraction, expansion, 
verification, movement from the concrete to the general 
and vice versa, analysis and synthesis. The largest func- 
tion of synthesis is to unify the entire plan of the novel. 
The introduction of every new element modifies the value 
of all that precedes, and partially determines all that fol- 
lows. 

Rejection of much material is imperative. Only a small part of what 
is conceived or imagined is embodied in the novel. In the words of 
Walter Besant, " thousands of scenes which belong to the story never 
get outside the writer's brain." (Compare Section 44.) 

Expansion may appear in simple enlargement of plan, or in increased 
seriousness of purpose. In writing Joseph Andrews, Fielding largely 
outgrew his original idea of parody. In Don Quixote, " Cervantes set 
out to write a comic short story, and the design grew under his hand 
until at length it included a whole Human Comedy.'" (Fitzmaurice- 
Kelly.) 

In genuine artistic composition, there is probably marked 
development of illusion. Yet the process may be compli- 
cated throughout by changes from imaginative warmth to 
cold-blooded critical scrutiny and verification. In histori- 
cal fiction, there is the special problem of subordinating 
the contemporaneous sense to the historical imagination. 
To the layman, illusion seems more imperative in some 
elements than in others. It is difficult to conceive success- 
ful conversation written without a lively sense of its reality, 
but a fairly good description of character or landscape might 
be achieved simply by force of will. 

The psychology of composition is so closely connected 
with style that it may often be advisable to combine the 
two into one topic of study. 



180 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

145. Collaboration. 1 — In the usual sense of the word, 
collaboration is less common in the novel than in the 
drama. Any form of plot-literature, however, is better 
adapted for cooperation than the lyric, in which the unity 
is so personal and emotional. Literature does not offer 
the spectacle of a combination of artists, one producing the 
mental plan, others undertaking the physical execution, as 
in dramaturgy, architecture, and orchestral music. 

Examples of novelistic collaboration occur in some works of Steven- 
son, in the Erckmann-Chatrian partnership, and in the frequent prac- 
tise of Dumas pere. 

Collaboration in the form of consultation, or in the unin- 
vited assistance of individuals or the public, is not uncom- 
mon. (Compare Section 141.) The publisher often has 
some influence on the composition of a novel. Occasion- 
ally the reading public has influenced alteration of titles 
or catastrophes. 

Pushkin suggested subjects and titles to Gogol. Of Dead Souls the 
author says : " Pushkin was its inspiration ; and to him I owe the idea 
and plan." All the copy was submitted to him. 2 — Goethe undertook 
the Wanderjahre upon the advice of Schiller. — Oroonoko is said to have 
been suggested by Charles the Second. — George Eliot records the 
influence of Lewes' advice, sometimes in considerable detail. 

146. Fragments. — The study of a fragment, whether it 
is a continuous part of the text, or composed of discon- 
nected portions, or mere notes, has special interest in rela- 
tion to the process of composition. Stevenson left some 
interesting fragments, and Hawthorne's Dolliver Romance 
and Septimius Felton make valuable studies of this kind. 
Note also, Dead Souls, Edwin Drood, and Pausanias. 

1 See the essay by Brander Matthews, The Art and Mystery of Collaboration, 
in The Historical Novel ; and Walter Besant's article in The New Review. 

2 Turner, p. 162 ff. 



CHAPTER X 
THE SHAPING FORCES 

147. General Conception. — Purely aesthetic criticism may 
perhaps neglect the causes that produce a novel, ex- 
cept the individuality of the author, but to historical and 
sociological criticism these are very important interests. 
While it is impossible to attain complete scientific analysis, 
it is always possible to reach some definite results, and 
speculation as to probable influences at least develops an 
intimacy with the novel and the environment in which 
it appeared. In many cases specific lines of influence may 
be traced, as in the imitation of incident, character, or 
style in one novel from another ; but often one must rest 
satisfied with more vague conception of large moral and 
social forces, moulding the general spirit of a work. The 
influences most readily perceived are not always the most 
significant. 

The immediate cause of every novel is the author as an 
individual, through whom all other forces operate, modified 
by his character and art. The more remote causes include 
national and racial spirit, the Zeitgeist, and human nature 
in general. The author is not necessarily conscious of the 
chief influences shaping his novel, whether they belong 
within his own individuality or outside it. Often, however, 
he is fully aware of them, either allowing them complete 
sway, or vainly striving to escape them. A reaction against 
a force is one form of the effect of that force, and examina- 

181 



1 82 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

tion of literary revolt affords good opportunity for a study 
of this principle. Few of the early realists, for example, 
escaped a considerable influence, in this manner, from the 
romantic movement. 

The modern Russian novelists seem at times to have an almost morbid 
sense of nationality and race. — American novelists are aware of the 
national quality in certain types of humor, and in materialistic tendency. 
— It is possible that the moral hate of injustice, the wilfulness, and the 
temperamental melancholy in Thomas Hardy are more racial than he 
himself recognizes. — Probably the critics of the present day see more 
clearly than the authors saw, the influence of early evangelical belief 
on George Eliot, and of Puritan inheritance on Hawthorne, 

148. The Data. — The present study involves a com- 
parison of the content and form of a novel with the nature 
of the forces known or supposed to influence it. The 
greater the intimacy with the novel, the greater probability 
of correct tracing of influences, provided that too minute 
analysis does not destroy general impressions of moral and 
mental tone. On the other hand, the deeper the acquaint- 
ance with the shaping forces, as they operate in all do- 
mains, the greater the probability of discovering their effect 
on an individual novel. Familiarity with the process of 
composition, and with the author's outer and inner history 
is clearly requisite. Often the author's own testimony 
yields direct evidence of influences not otherwise easily 
detected. The histories of fiction record innumerable ex- 
amples of the specific influence of one novel or school 
of novelists on another. Criticism often points out the 
exact source of details in character, incident, motivation, 
syntax, rhythm, and vocabulary. Some definite formulas 
of inheritance have long been established for the greater 
novels of Europe, but in few cases has the study been 
exhaustive. There may be a fresher interest, at times, 



THE SHAPING FORCES 183 

in the examination of a novel whose lineage is still prob- 
lematic. 

As suggested in the preceding section, one outside the immediate 
field of a given influence may sometimes note its working more clearly 
than one within that field. The student may do well to consult Eng- 
lish criticism for the French quality in Balzac, French criticism for the 
Russian element in Gogol, etc. But there is also a particular interest 
in tracing the effect on the novel, of forces which are daily moulding 
one's own ideas and emotions. 

149. Individuality of the Author. — In comparison with 
a lyric, a novel usually embodies the general, persistent 
temperament, character, and philosophy of the author. 
These influences are perhaps seen most clearly in generic 
type of subject and in major modes of treatment — the 
specific themes and the details of form may change with 
the passing years. Capacity for large generalization, im- 
aginative power, optimistic or pessimistic tendency, sanity 
or morbidity, misanthropy or warm human sympathy, in- 
tellectual or emotional emphasis, and similar characteristics, 
if not innate, are generally well determined by the time a 
great novel is produced. These qualities of character have 
intimate relation to temperament, and temperament under- 
goes no radical change during a lifetime. A great novel 
is rarely written before an accumulation of experience so 
large that little less than a catastrophe can essentially alter 
its complexion ; or before the method of reaction upon 
experience is well established. 

Sterne was personally melancholy, abstracted, nervous, "indulging 
in tears as a habitual luxury " (Masson). — The essential unity of Tol- 
stoi's character can be traced throughout his writings. — Great as are 
the differences between Werther and Wilhelm Meister, both reveal the 
artistic temperament, the apostle of culture, and the devotee of intel- 
lectual calm. — Newman became a Catholic in middle life, and his novels 
were written after that change of position ; but throughout life he was 



1 84 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

deeply religious, conservative, speculative, and gifted with unusual his- 
torical imagination, reverence, and analytical power. — The sensitive, 
impressionable nature of George Eliot, her profound ethical quality, her 
pessimism, are far deeper than any difference between orthodox belief 
and positivism. 

The following are examples of individuality in formal details — 
whether permanent or episodic in the author : — Fogazzaro, use of the 
leit-motif (Robiati) ; — Hugo, use of the rhetorical short paragraph (see 
also Hennequin) ; — George Eliot, semi-quotation ; — Bunyan, numeri- 
cal division of expository passages (in Defoe also, perhaps from Bun- 
yan's influence) ; — Fielding, interruption of long episodic narrative by 
exciting incident in main narrative. — See also the footnote, p. 24. 

150. The Author's Age. — A great lyric may be written 
at an advanced age, but the lyric-writing habit has rarely 
been formed, with successful result, after youthful years. 
Few of the great novels have been the work of men or 
women under twenty-five, and in not a few cases successful 
novel-writing began in middle life. 

If the recent advice of an American medical expert had been fore- 
seen and adopted, the world would have lost some of the masterpieces 
of fiction. Goethe wrote fiction from 25 to 79; Hugo, from 21 to 75 ; 
Dickens, from 22 to his death at 58. George Eliot began at 38 ; Rich- 
ardson at 51 ; Balzac began at about 20, achieved success at 30, and 
continued till his death at 51. 

The development of technical mastery in the course 
of a long career is to be distinguished from the general 
maturing of character ; with which, however, it is associ- 
ated. The changes produced by age can be studied in 
Werther and Wilhelm Meister. Some types of romance, 
as well as the short story, are more akin to the lyric than to 
the novel, and offer abundant opportunity to examine the 
influence of youth in prose fiction. 

The following arrangement of data is suggestive : Pickwick was 
written at 24 ; Castle Rackrent, 35 ; Euge'nie Grandet, 35 ; Vanity 



THE SHAPING- FORCES 1 85 

Fair, 36 ; David Copperfield, 37 ; Vicar of Wakefield, 38 ; Soil und 
Haben, 39 ; I Promessi Sposi, 40 ; Tom Jones, 42 ; Waverley, 43 ; 
Tristram Shandy, 46-54 ; La Nouvelle Heloise, 44-48 ; Cloister and 
Hearth, 46 ; Anna Karenina, 47 ; Pilgrim's Progress, 50 ; Middlemarch, 
51; Robinson Crusoe, 58; Don Quixote, 58-68; Clarissa, 60; Les 
Miserables, 60 ; Wilhelm Meister, 28-79. 

151. Sex. — It has been said that true genius partakes 
somewhat of the qualities of both sexes, or in a man- 
ner transcends sex. The novel, however, is hardly the 
best form of expression to exemplify these tendencies. 
Its intense humanity, its complex exhibition of emotion, 
thought, manners, relations of the individual to society 
and to nature, are continually inviting the author to reveal 
the sex point of view. Perhaps the greater novelists are 
less conscious of sex than of nationality and humanity; 
while a conscious attempt to escape the emphasis of sex 
is characteristic of talent rather than genius, and cannot 
be entirely successful. 

Richardson is an eminent example of feminine quality in man ; while 
his critical enemy Fielding seems anxious to fortify the masculine posi- 
tion. Fielding's disciple, Thackeray, is also consciously hostile toward 
the effeminate. In the ideal of " muscular Christianity," partly a reac- 
tion from the asceticism of the Oxford Movement, the masculine note 
is prominent. Some of George Eliot's early reviewers conceived her 
as a man, but more penetrating criticism discovered the characteristics 
of the woman. 

It is often said that woman is especially fitted for the 
novelist's function, by her power of minute observation, 
strong sense of satire, her interest in love, and tendency 
toward a personal and emotional view of life. Whether 
these are considered as advantageous, or truly novelistic, 
will depend on one's theory of the novel. Some of the 
qualities of novelistic style given in Chapter VIII belong, 
in the layman's psychology, to the masculine mind. In 



1 86 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

the general history of the novel, the main lines of develop- 
ment, both in subject and form, have been initiated by 
men ; though later modifications of importance have been 
made by women. 

Certain types of fiction are more natural to woman than others. She 
has attained great success in the novel of manners, u domestic satire," 
and in some kinds of psychological analysis. In historical romance, her 
tendency is to modernize and subjectify individual character and social 
tone. Few of the greater Utopian, political, or allegorical fictions have 
been written by woman, and she has probably produced no masterpiece 
in the recent symbolistic movement. 

The romance of chivalry, pastoral romance, and the picaresque novel 
were organized and mainly developed by men. Their era, however, 
was before a general entrance of woman into prose literature. — The 
initiative value of The Princess of Cleves, Jane Austen's novels, and Jane 
Eyre is large. — In English fiction, Walpole is credited with the creation 
of Gothic romance, though Mrs. Radcliffe and Mrs. Shelley produced 
more perfect specimens. — Historical romance, of the general type of 
Scott, is traced back to Leland, though Miss Reeve's Old English 
Baron came long before Waverley. — On the other hand, the origin of 
the " humanitarian novel " is attributed to Mrs. Behn, of the " society 
novel" to Miss Burney, and of the u international novel" to Miss 
Edgeworth. (Cross.) Women novelists have often exerted strong 
influence upon their brothers, a familiar example being found in Scott's 
indebtedness to Mrs. Radcliffe and Miss Edgeworth. 

152. Personal Episode. — The author's temporary con- 
dition, as related to the concrete process of composition, 
has been noticed in Chapter IX. Looked at in a larger 
way, the lives of most novelists show distinct psychological 
episodes, based on physical, artistic, or ethical conditions, 
which have appreciable influence on their works. An im- 
portant change in mental attitude may be unconscious, or 
it may be due to deliberate purpose. It may coincide with 
outward changes in domestic and social environment, or be 
more purely an inward experience. There are episodes 



THE SHAPING FORCES 187 

of health, disease, convalescence, of faith and doubt, of 
expansion and contraction, for the individual as well as for 
social groups. In some cases one can discover a kind of 
irregular rhythm in the moral life, akin to the alternation of 
romantic and realistic impulse. 

The major episodes may often be identified with the 
" manners " of an author. These may be distinguished 
by choice of subject, dominant interest, or stylistic and 
structural method. 

Lanson 1 distinguishes the four manners of George Sand as follows : 
(1) lyrical and rebellious spirit, interest in love; (2) more objective 
quality, socialistic, the religion of humanity ; (3) rustic painting, pro- 
duction of the masterpieces of the genre idyllique in French fiction ; 
(4) period of the grandmother tales, trie public treated like a child. — 
Brander Matthews gives a clear summary of the development of manners 
in Scott. Scott himself notes the deliberate change of manner in St. 
Ronan's Well ; a change which was severely criticized, and brought 
forth the judgment that the great wizard had "written himself out." 

In the central part of the nineteenth century, a common 
phenomenon in fiction is decided change from romantic 
to realistic faith — at times an almost violent reaction, and 
frequently accompanied by critical attack on the old prin- 
ciples, and defense of the new. This transfer of allegiance 
is marked in Gogol, Galdos, and Bjornson. In the later 
years of the century, somewhat similar changes are ad- 
vance from realism to naturalism ; or reaction from realism 
to idealism, in the form of historical romance, contem- 
porary character studies, or symbolism. Occasional epi- 
sodic return to romanticism on the part of the habitual 
realist is the rule rather than the exception. 

153. National and Racial Influences. — Criticism recog- 
nizes the difference between the racial and the national 

!p.982. 



1 88 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

epic, and this distinction may be applied to the novel In 
general tendency, however, the epic is more racial, the 
novel more national. The era of the true epic was before 
the modern nation and the modern sense of nationality 
were fully developed. Racial influence in literature may 
be considered deeper than national influence — more emo- 
tional, physical, lying nearer the "elemental man" — but 
for that reason, generally less conscious. 

The history of the novel shows no national " schools " 
comparable in compactness and uniformity with the 
schools of painting. Yet there have been groups of 
writers approaching the unity of a national school; for 
example, the Italian novelists of the Renaissance, the 
eighteenth century English realists, and the Russian socio- 
logical novelists of the last century. In the individual 
novelist, national consciousness has often been pronounced; 
appearing in enthusiastic patriotism, antagonism to other 
nations, or the spirit of reform. 

Comparison of critical estimates of national character 
furnishes a natural basis for the study of national influence. 
A few examples may be given, with suggestions of appli- 
cation to individual novels : — 

English: "Energy with honesty " (Matthew Arnold) ; "void of the 
sentiment of the beautiful . . . more apt for the sentiment of the true " 
(Taine) ; practical efficiency (Emerson). — Robinson Crusoe, Middle- 
march, or Barchester Towers. 

French : Lucidity and strong social sense (Brunetiere) ; ' the English 
novel lives by character, the French by situation' (Garnett). — La 
Princesse de Cleves, Cinq-Mars, Candide. 

German : u Steadiness with honesty ... the idea of science govern- 
ing all departments of human activity" (Matthew Arnold) ; 'the 
material, awkward, rather coarse Germanic point of view — German 
exactness ' (John Van Dyke) ; "a breed absorbed in detail and minute 
observation" (Fitzmaurice-Kelly). — Soil und Haben. 



THE SHAPING FORCES 1 89 

Italian : * What is not refined is not Italian . . . love of perfect form 
and artistic finish' (Garnett) ; "preferring . . . the sensuous to the 
ideal' 1 (Symonds) ; "la spontaneita del genio greco-latino si rebella ad 
un lavoro minuzioso di analisi, esigenti profondi studii e larghe cogni- 
zioni. . . . Uno dei caratteri phi generali e piu salienti del mondo 
latino odierno e la smania di vivere, di godere" (Robiati). — II Trionfo 
della Morte. 

Russian : " Tolstoi is essentially a Russian writer, sharing the gen- 
eral mental quality of his country, of which one characteristic feature 
consists in the inability to bring its beliefs and feelings into harmony " 
(Waliszewski) ; u the heroes of our most remarkable poems and 
romances one and all suffer from the same malady, the incapacity of 
recognizing any aim in life, any worthy motive for activity " (Dobro- 
louboff, quoted in Turner). — Anna Karenina, Smoke, Dead Souls. 

Spanish : " On the one hand empty honor, careless cruelty, be- 
sotted superstition, administrative corruption, and on the other sobriety, 
uncomplaining industry and cheerful courage" (Matthews) ; "no lit- 
erature has so completely a national character " (F. Schlegel) ; " essen- 
tially chivalric " (Sismondi) ; u complete synthesis of gravity of matter 
and gayety of manner " (Coventry Patmore) . — Don Quixote, Pepita 
Jimenez. 

There are few great novels which do not show the in- 
fluence of more than one nationality. The history of 
fiction is largely a study of international relations. For 
European fiction in general, there have been periods of 
Italian, Spanish, French, and English supremacy. The 
spirit of the novel could say with Browne, in the Religio 
Medici, "all places, all airs, make unto me one country." 
Some degree of cosmopolitan influence belongs to the 
essential nature of certain types of fiction — pastoral and 
Utopian romance, the romance of chivalry, and the mod- 
ern "international novel" being examples. A kind of 
pseudo-cosmopolitan spirit has been criticized in recent 
years, and contrasted with the truth of fidelity to national 
ideals, and with the picturesque reality of local color. 



190 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

A study of great historical and political interest is found in the na* 
tional modification of general European aesthetic movements. Pseudo- 
classicism was essentially French, but it underwent local variation in 
England, Russia, and Scandinavia. — Romanticism was an essentially 
Germanic movement, and while it exerted great influence in Russia and 
Italy, it was not fully at home in those countries. Karamzin was a 
disciple or imitator of Richardson, Sterne, and Rousseau, but "the 
romantic element in [Russian] literature was of necessity borrowed, 
and could not be self-created" (Turner). Foscolo imitated Werther, 
and Manzoni imitated Scott, but " the romantic school is at variance 
with all [Italian] literary traditions and . . . canons of taste " (Garnett). 
Garnett suggests that the lack of Gothic architecture in Italy may be 
a cause of anti-romantic quality in the literature. 

The influence of race, like that of nationality, varies 
with industrial, political, and religious conditions. Race 
consciousness is probably deeper in some races than in 
others. In modern fiction it seems particularly strong in 
the Slav, the Jew, and the Scandinavian. Recent politi- 
cal and commercial movements have developed a new 
type of Anglo-Saxon race spirit, which has its record in 
fiction. In these large social fields, as well as in the indi- 
vidual life, " consciousness of kind " is often aroused or 
intensified by antagonism to another kind. 

Race consciousness is clearly defined in Gogol, Tolstoi, Sienkiewicz, 
Bjornson, and Zangwill. In Balzac it seems almost entirely obscured by 
the national. 

Complex intermingling of the two forms of influence 
is abundantly exemplified in fiction. In America there 
is a general sense of the triumph of political unity over 
racial diversity. Continuity of race under very differ- 
ent political conditions may be studied by comparing the 
early Greek romances with the modern, the sagas with the 
Weird Tales of Jonas Lie, the novels of " Old Spain " with 
those of Spanish- American countries. 



THE SHAPING FORCES 191 

Many novelists have been influenced by foreign residence. Compare 
the native and the Parisian influences in Kielland, Turgenieff, and 
Henry James. The mixture of European and African blood in Dumas 
and in Pushkin invites the curious scientific student to investigate the 
twofold influence in their fiction. 

154. Linguistic Influence. — The general nature of lan- 
guage modifies the expression of the novelist, limiting it in 
some directions and expanding it in others. As a thinker, 
the novelist meets the same difficulty as essayist or phi- 
losopher in finding language forms for complete and exact 
embodiment of general ideas ; as an artist, his descriptive 
imagery, his narration, his dialogue are inevitably moulded 
by the linguistic medium. The imperfect plastic quality 
of language calls for great labor or great genius in the 
representation of delicate shades of emotional experience, 
individual or social, contemporaneous or historical. 

This influence is more marked in connection with spe- 
cialized forms of language. Some scholars find the lan- 
guage to be the essential bond of national unity ; dialect 
is an inviting but at the same time a resisting medium; 
the distinctions between literary and colloquial language, 
academic and uncultured, courtly and plebeian, are readily 
traced in the fiction of Europe. 

Theoretically, the ideal language for the novel proper 
may be characterized as modern, without too much tradi- 
tional influence, complex in its sources, flexible in adapting 
new elements, possessed of a prose form free from melodic 
and rhythmical emphasis, highly specialized for different 
social groups and mental tones, and already tempered for 
the novel by master hands. The qualities adapted to the 
short story and the romance are somewhat different. 

These conditions are not met with equal success by the present 
languages of Europe. Greek is perhaps too reminiscent of the classical 



192 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

period, and has not yet known the transforming power of a great novelist ; 
Italian is too traditional, too conscious of Latin inheritance and of 
Dante, too desirous of formal perfection ; 1 Spanish and French proba- 
bly show too much influence from academic authority. German and 
English — possibly " American English " in particular — seem, in theory, 
to be among the most novelistic of the great living tongues of the 
Occident. 

In any form of plot-literature, mor$ values can be pre- 
served in translation than is possible in lyric poetry. The 
large objective picture of manners, the external relations 
of the dramatis personae, the outline of plot-structure, etc., 
may be transferred from one language to another without 
great loss ; but lyric grace, the atmosphere of mental moods, 
the connotation of dramatic speech, and the harmonies of 
language are entirely altered in translation. From the 
reader's point of view, that language is most novelistic 
which is most familiar and most habitually associated with 
his daily experience. 

It is said that English translations of French translations of Russian 
novels are very remote from the linguistic atmosphere of the original. 
— It would be difficult to conceive d' Annunzio writing in English, or 
Fielding in Italian. — Criticism has suggested that George Eliot would 
have found German a better medium than English for her philo- 
sophical ideas. — Latin, historically if not inherently, is one of the least 
novelistic of languages. If northern Europe had rested satisfied with 
Utopia, the Iter Subterraneum, and Argenis, there would have been 
little hope for Robinson Crusoe, Wilhelm Meister, or Dead Souls. 
Even the influence of Latin on other languages may injure realistic 
illusion, as in the heroic romance, and in Rasselas. 

1 D' Annunzio, in the preface to II Trionfo della Morte, while recognizing 
the inadequate expressive power of the modern Italian novelist, defends the 
language itself: " dico che la lingua italiana non ha nulla da invidiare e nulla 
da chiedere in prestito ad alcun' altra lingua europea non pur nella rappre- 
sentazione di tutto il moderno mondo esteriore ma in quella degli 'stati d' ammo ' 
piii complicati e piu rari in cui analista si sia mai compiaciuto da che la scienza 
della psiche umana e in onore." 



THE SHAPING FORCES 193 

155. Literary Influence. — Though the novel, in its best 
examples, is modeled in large measure directly from life, 
its general development has been influenced by most of 
the other types of literature, and there are few individual 
masterpieces in which both remote and immediate literary 
influence may not be profitably studied. A grouping of 
these types arranged approximately according to increas- 
ing degree of influence upon the Stoffgeschichte and 
Formgeschichte of the novel, might appear somewhat as 
follows : — 

(1) The lyric, the ballad, satirical, descriptive, and pas- 
toral poetry. — The medieval ballad literature is causally 
related to the romance of chivalry and the prose saga ; the 
revival of ballad spirit, and the development of a school of 
landscape poetry in the eighteenth century are intimately 
associated with the romantic movement in prose fiction; 
the relations of verse pastoral to pastoral romance are 
readily traced. 

(2) Philosophy, science, criticism, the essay. — The scien- 
tific spirit is not only influential on the realism and natural- 
ism of the nineteenth century, but is clearly represented in 
the voyage imaginaire of the Renaissance, as in The New 
Atlantis and Cyrano de Bergerac's Etats et Empire de la 
Lune, and in the reactionary views in Gulliver. The politi- 
cal philosophy of Plato had direct influence on Utopian 
fiction, and that of Rousseau on the " revolutionary novel," 
as in Caleb Williams. Positivism guided the ethical spirit 
of George Eliot, and materialism of a later date, with evo- 
lutionary doctrine, have almost created as well as controlled 
the school of Zola. By way of reaction, idealism, even 
mysticism, are now having their turn. ^Esthetic criticism 
in general, and criticism of the epic, drama, and novel in 
particular, have always exerted considerable influence. 



194 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

The Renaissance theories of epic poetry were partially followed in 
heroic romance, and had a definite place in the conception of the novel 
held by Fielding and his contemporaries. ^Esthetic theory largely 
shaped the pastoral romance, and all later embodiments of the " art for 
art's sake " doctrine. See also the prefaces of Bulwer Lytton for appli- 
cation of broad aesthetic principle to the novel. 

(3) The spirit and method of journalism have had a general influ- 
ence on much modern fiction, and are the immediate ancestors of the 
roman feuilleton and the novel of" reportage" 

(4) The relations of the drama and the novel are noticed in the 
chapter on Comparative ^Esthetics. — The Sir Roger de Coverley papers 
may be considered as transitional from the " character " to the complete 
novel. 

(5) The short story of the Renaissance type has fur- 
nished the novel with many situations and germs of plot ; 
the short story of the last century has probably aided the 
development of unity, clear structure, and finished style in 
the novel. Romance has influenced the novel by way of 
reaction, and every type of novel has had its dynamic rela- 
tions to all its contemporaries and successors. Religious 
literature, including the Bible, has been a shaping force in 
early "spiritual romance," and in didactic allegory. 

The reading of the early church fathers probably suggested Callista 
to Newman. D' Annunzio urges that in order to improve their style the 
Italian psychologists " debbono ricercare gli asceti, i casuisti, i volgariz- 
zatori di sermoni, di omelie e di soliloquii." * 

See also the note on Pepita Jimenez in Section 139. 

Particularly concrete study of the relation of cause and 
effect is possible in the case of direct imitation, as in parody 
and burlesque. 

Compare the romance of chivalry with Don Quixote ; the heroic 
romance with the pseudo-heroic Female Quixote ; and the parodies of 
Thackeray with their original models. 

1 Preface to II Trionfo della Morte. 



THE SHAPING FORCES 195 

An important influence is often exerted after a long 
period, either directly or through a series of intermediary 
works. 

Tristram Shandy is greatly indebted to the Anatomy of Melancholy. 
— Fielding was a master of Thackeray. — Greek romance is one ances- 
tor of heroic romance. — Don Quixote was a general model for Dead 
Souls. — The following long line of inheritance is given in Matthews's 
Historical Novel : Lazarillo and Guzman, Lesage, Smollett, Dickens, 
Bret Harte, Kipling. Another interesting chain given in the same 
work, though not long in time, is, Turgenieff, Henry James, Bourget, 
d 1 Annunzio. — A sequence little suspected by the casual reader is the 
Adelphi of Terence, ShadwelPs Squire of Alsatia, The Fortunes of 
Nigel. 

156. Historical Influence. — While all forms of human 
expression are influenced by the Zeitgeist, Robiati calls the 
novel "the form of art which most resembles the time 
in which it is produced.'' An earlier and more cautious 
writer 1 considers it as " perhaps the most complete expres- 
sion of the moral and social state of an epoch and a coun- 
try." Every great movement in the history of fiction, 
though modified by race and nationality, is one phase of a 
general cultural episode in modern civilization. 

The rationalism and pseudo-classicism of the eighteenth century ap- 
pear in essentially the same manner in the fiction of Russia, Scandina- 
via, and Holland, as in the major literatures of the period. — Royce, in The 
Spirit of Modern Philosophy, associates the idealistic philosophy of 
Germany with its literature of the romantic movement ; and Gates, in his 
editorial essay on Newman, discusses the relations of the Oxford Move- 
ment to the spirit of romanticism. (Compare Section 166.) Realism, 
democracy, and the scientific spirit are characteristic of the nineteenth 
century from Iceland to Greece, and from Japan to Chili. — There are 
common elements, due to historical conditions, in the Catholicism of 
Manzoni, Newman, Fogazzaro, and Sienkiewicz. 

*De Lomenie: Revue des Deux Mondes, December, 1857. (Maigron.) 



196 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

The general method of conceiving an historical episode 
belongs to social psychology, the identification of particular 
periods belongs to history ; but a few points may be noted 
here, as having a direct bearing on the study of fiction. 

An epoch may be characterized by a single condensed 
formula. Carlyle summarized the age of Hume and Vol- 
taire as "the century of scepticism. " Garnett affirms that 
in all countries the present time is " an age of literary 
anarchy.' ' Such brilliant critical formulas are often ex- 
tremely helpful, but in mature study they are associated 
with more extensive criticism, and with patient inductive 
analysis of the literature itself. It may be confusing at 
first to attempt to unify the various critical conceptions of 
the romantic movement, and its various artistic expressions 
in fiction, but such a process has finally a rich reward. 

Some periods are more easily unified than others ; but all 
may be viewed as transitional, in all appear the phenomena 
of current and undercurrent, of reminiscence and fore- 
shadowing. In poetical language, — 

"... each age is a dream that is dying, 
Or one that is coming to birth." l 

The simplest studies of historical influence are found 
in fiction representative of the complete, unvexed mastery 
of clearly defined ideas ; but there is deeper human inter- 
est in works revealing a movement in faint process of 
formation or of unconscious decline, or works in which two 
distinct forces rise into conflict or agree on cooperation. 

The rationalism of the eighteenth century is found, in comparatively 
pure form, in Defoe; its cynical scepticism in Swift. The Castle of 
Otranto, while considered the original Gothic romance in English fiction, 
is still plainly under the influence of pseudo-classicism. Fielding is 

1 O'Shaughnessy. 



THE SHAPING FORCES 197 

a pronounced realist, but he is influenced by reaction from Richardson. 
In Smollett there are traces of Gothic imagination, interpreted in both 
serious and burlesque spirit. The realism of Jane Austen is consciously 
hostile to the sentimental novel. Scott is not free from the eighteenth 
century manner. — In historical fiction, it is interesting to compare the 
influence of the period in which the novelist imagines with that of the 
time in which he lives. Some transformation of the historical into 
the contemporary is inevitable, though not always as clear and conscious 
as it is in the Idylls of the King. 

The foliage and blossoms of the historical growth may 
be political, religious, or artistic; but the psychological 
roots are deeper than all such distinctions, and are often 
difficult to discover. The general philosophical attitude of 
a period, and its dominant form of social organization 
always influence its fiction, but not always in simple and 
direct manner. The Zeitgeist may mould the outline of 
plot, the grouping of characters, and other obvious elements 
of structure ; or it may be traced only in the emotional tone 
and the stylistic quality of the work as a whole. 

The identification of very limited periods is usually a task for the 
specialist. As one's acquaintance with general history and with the 
history of fiction deepens, it may be possible to discern the special note 
of a single generation or even a single decade. The climactic vogue of 
English sentimentalism probably endured for little more than a genera- 
tion. In another field, Professor Felix Schelling marks the last decade 
of the sixteenth century as the " time of the sonnet." 1 

157. Immediate Social Environment. — A novelist is 
probably always influenced during composition by the 
social environment in which he has lived or is living. 
This fact may be most apparent when such environment 
is directly studied in a novel, or is consciously selected for 
the sake of artistic stimulus. Individual novels show the 
special influences of domestic, industrial, or professional 

1 Elizabethan Lyrics. 



198 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

conditions, of city or country residence, of the court or the 
frontier, of social prestige or exile. 

The influence of immediate social environment is particularly clear 
in Jane Austen. — Note also the effect of domestic life on George Eliot ; 

— of political ostracism on Bunyan, Defoe, Pushkin, and Hugo ; — of 
court life on The Princess of Cleves ; — of country residence on Hardy ; 

— of intimate acquaintance with both the aristocracy and the peasantry 
on Tolstoi ; — of Abbotsford and Edinburgh on Scott ; — of London 
on Fielding and Dickens ; — of Madrid society on La Espuma ; — of 
club-life on Sir Roger de Coverley ; — of legal environment on Fielding 
and Scott ; — of medical environment on Smollett ; — of ecclesiastical 
environment on Charles Kingsley, Newman, and Trollope; — of the 
free social life of the West on Hamlin Garland. 

158. Human Nature. — Every artist is a unique indi- 
vidual, and at the same time representative of limited 
areas of national, racial, and historical conditions; he is 
never an " Everyman " or a " Humanum Genus." Yet, in 
the belief of many critics, the more deeply he is influenced 
by human nature in general, the greater is his artistic sig- 
nificance. The idea of a direct supernatural influence 
upon the artist has little weight at present. 

In subject and in form, most novels embody some of the 
familiar conceptions of human nature found in poetry, 
sociology, or ethics. Among the creative forces in fiction, 
are love of story ; craving for emotion, for self-expression, 
and for sympathy ; practical or speculative interest in the 
relations of body and soul, and in man's destiny ; rebellion 
against the irrational element in life, sense of illusion, and 
eager search for reality. 

In some novels of social reform, one could imagine the Lancelot 
reader exclaiming, — 

"... What name hast thou 
That ridest here so blindly and so hard ?" 

and the Pelleas author crying in answer, — 



THE SHAPING FORCES 199 

" I have no name ... a scourge am I, 
To lash the treasons of the Table Round." 

Trace in the novel the conceptions of humanity in Matthew Arnold's 
poem, u A wanderer is man from his birth " ; in Pope's Essay on Man ; 
in Hamlet's " what a piece of work is man," etc. ; in Amphibian, and 
many other poems of Browning. 

There is scarcely a great novel that does not illustrate the concep- 
tion, " man is the political animal." — Biological ideas of man's place in 
the universe of life are influential upon the naturalists. 

The scope of a novel is great enough to represent a 
great variety of persistent human impulses. The single 
lyric often records a transitory and exceptional exultation 
of soul or depression of physical vitality ; a painting may 
express a passion for nature, a dream of the supernatural, 
or an aesthetic delight in human beauty, of a quality not 
to be called universal. 

Contrast the lyrical, pictorial feeling, characteristic of Elizabethan 
poetry, in Lodge's lines, — 

" Her cheeks are like the blushing cloud 
That beautifies Aurora's face, . . . 

Her lips are like two budded roses 
Whom ranks of lilies neighbor nigh," 

with George Eliot's novelistic appeal to " all who love human faces 
best for what they tell of human experience." 

The medium of expression in literature — language — 
is more inherently and profoundly human than that of 
any other art ; and in some respects the special language 
of the novel is more human than that of other forms of 
literature. 

159. The Influence of Nature. — In a real if somewhat 
vague sense, the novel may be viewed as ultimately a prod- 
uct of natural forces ; as one phase of the general mani- 



200 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

festation of life. One important critical application of 
this view is found in the idea of the evolution des genres. 
This idea partly guided Taine in his History of English 
Literature, and has since been clarified and developed. 1 
A few points respecting the comparison of the novel with 
a biological species may be noted : — 

(i) The biological phenomena of struggle for existence, 
survival of the fittest, hybrid forms, individual variation, 
etc., find easy analogies in the history of fiction. (2) At- 
tempts at a scientific classification of fiction seem arbi- 
trary, compared with the classifications of botany and 
zoology. In the novel there are few if any types with 
characteristics fixed and organic enough to determine a sat- 
isfactory classification of individual works. The difference 
between a hermit-thrush and a meadow-lark is stable, 
objective, and determines at once the systematic position 
of individual birds. The difference between a pastoral 
romance and a picaresque novel is distinct enough in 
theory, but there is no law forbidding a combination of 
both types in a single work. (3) The novel itself is not 
a form of life, and has reproductive power only through 
agencies totally unlike itself. (4) The processes of nature 
which fashion, modify, perpetuate, or destroy species are 
mainly unconscious. This law has a certain analogy in 
fiction, if one considers society ; but the will of the indi- 
vidual artist is a most significant factor. Human agency 
may of course considerably modify natural species, within 
a limited area. (5) The entire evolution of the novel covers 
an insignificant period, compared with the duration of 
biological evolution. (6) The phenomena of local habitat 
have partial, but only partial, analogies in the field of fiction. 

1 Its specific application to the novel is briefly discussed in Stoddard's 
introduction. 



THE SHAPING FORCES 201 

In national literatures and in single novels, the influence 
of external nature is often apparent. Individual languages 
are modified by climatic and topographical environment. 
Russian fiction seems influenced by the vastness of the 
plains; Scandinavian fiction by majesty of mountains and 
beauty of fiords ; American fiction by primitive landscape 
and nerve-stimulating climate. 

Mrs. Shelley was clearly moved by the scenery of Switzerland while 
composing Frankenstein. — Oscar Browning notes that the climate of 
England depressed George Eliot, and thinks she would have been 
happier if she had lived more abroad. — In the preface to Dombey and 
Son, Dickens gives this evidence of the intimate association of natural 
environment with the creative imagination : — "at this day ... I yet 
confusedly imagine Captain Cuttle as secluding himself from Mrs. 
MacStinger among the mountains of Switzerland. Similarly, when I 
am reminded ... of what it was that the waves were always saying, 
I wander in my fancy for a whole winter night about the streets of 
Paris ... as I really did, with a heavy heart, on the night when my 
little friend and I parted company forever." 



CHAPTER XI 

THE INFLUENCE OF A NOVEL 

1 60. Popularity of Fiction. — Few extended discussions 
of fiction fail to emphasize the importance, from either the 
aesthetic or the ethical point of view, of its wide popularity. 
This popularity has been variously developed in different 
regions, has shifted from type to type, and has known pe- 
riods of critical hostility ; but on the whole, its endurance 
for centuries is a notable fact of literary history. 

The conditions of the later nineteenth century need no illustration. 
The following are representative testimonies of an earlier period. — 
Defoe wrote in the preface of Moll Flanders, " The world is so taken up 
of late with Novels and Romances, that it will be hard for a private 
history to be taken for genuine." — In 1773, a writer in the Gentle- 
man's Magazine speaks of " this novel-writing age." That magazine 
lists about 140 novels for the decade 1 770-1 780, 40 being noted for the 
single year 1771. — Miss Reeve wrote in 1785 of 'the press groaning be- 
neath the weight of Novels,' so numerous that they had become a " pub- 
lic evil." — In 1810, an editor of Richardson declared, u those who are 
most important in the ranks of civilized life, read scarcely anything else" 
but novels. 

Popularity does not necessarily mean a real and deep 
influence. Some critics believe that the novel reveals the 
existing mental condition of its readers, rather than alters 
it. Even if this were the complete truth, a study of the 
vogue of a novel would throw light on social attitude ; but 
in many cases it seems that a novel is, for practical pur- 
poses, a new influence in society. 

202 



THE INFLUENCE OF A NOVEL 203 

Coleridge declares that " all the evil achieved by Hobbes, and the 
whole School of Materialists will appear inconsiderable, if it be com- 
pared with the mischief effected and occasioned by the sentimental 
Philosophy of Sterne and his numerous imitators." 1 

161. The Data. — Bibliographical facts furnish a practi- 
cal basis for the examination of the vogue of a novel. 
Comparison of critical opinions, imitations, parodies, dram- 
atizations, etc., serves to indicate the effect upon different 
historical periods and social groups. Biographical docu- 
ments record the reception of a novel by famous individ- 
uals. The private opinions of the common reader and 
his circle of acquaintance may be reviewed in a critical 
spirit, with allowance for the personal equation. These 
are all external data. After they are collected and ex- 
amined, one may return to the novel itself, for a more care- 
ful study of the probable causes of influence. 

For a merely statistical basis of comparison, it might be well to estab- 
lish certain norms of circulation. The following data of editions and 
sales are illustrative. 

Editions: — Silas Marner (1861), seventh, 1861 ; Adam Bede (1859), 
seventh, 1859, tenth, 1862; — Sidney's Arcadia (1590), ten in fifty 
years; — Soil und Haben (1855), fifty-fourth, 1901 ; — Frau Sorge 
(1887), fifty-fourth, 1900 ; — Ekkehard (1862), one-hundred and seventy- 
seventh, 1900. Sales: — Adam Bede, 16,000 in 1859 ; — Soil und Haben, 
100,000 by 1887; — in 1892, La Debacle, 110,000; L'Assommoir, 
124,000; Nana, 166,000; — Uncle Tom's Cabin (in book form, 1852), 
1,000,000 in England, 150,000 in America, first year. " The sale of 
Uncle Tom's Cabin is the most marvelous literary phenomenon that the 
world has witnessed." (Senior.) 

162. Time Distribution. — The essential elements of 
appeal in a novel may be as old as human nature. Some 
of the elements of novelistic form — plot, fictitious dia- 
logue, character grouping, etc. — are perhaps older than 

1 Aids to Reflection; On Sensibility. 



204 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

written language. Specific situations, plot-outlines and 
character-types are often of great antiquity. If separate 
types of fiction are narrowly defined, there are several 
which have all the historical interest of extinct species. 

The romance of chivalry, roughly speaking, had a vogue of some two 
centuries. — Pastoral romance arose in the decadent period of Greek 
literature, was revived in the Renaissance, and practically disappeared 
as a type in the seventeenth century. — The heroic romance became a 
well-defined form in the seventeenth century : its death-throes, in the 
next century, are described in an interesting manner in Miss Reeve's 
Progress of Romance. 

By the " lifetime" of an individual work, one may mean 
general popularity, vital significance, as distinguished from 
mere historical interest, for the select few, or enduring rep- 
utation. In the careful study of a famous novel, it might 
be worth while to trace its history somewhat systemati- 
cally; noting, for example, the circulation or influence for 
the first year, the first decade, then for each succeeding 
generation. A temporary revival of interest is a com- 
mon phenomenon, in the history of both species and indi- 
vidual works. 

163. Place Distribution. — All the great novels have been 
international, not only in reputation, but in literary influ- 
ence. Spielhagen considers that the exposition of a na- 
tional life to the people of other nations is one of the 
distinguishing functions of the modern novel. 1 

It is not to be expected that the reception of a novel 
abroad will coincide with that at home. When the differ- 
ences are striking, a study of their social and political causes 
makes an interesting part of the critical task. 

Compare the treatment of Cooper, Julian Hawthorne, and Theodore 
Winthrop in NichoPs American Literature, with that by American 

1 Technik des Romans; Das Gebiet des Romans. 



THE INFLUENCE OF A NOVEL 205 

critics. — " The popular literature of America is English, and the popu- 
lar literature of England is American." (Senior.) — Edmond Scherer 
wrote of George Eliot, in 1885, "the very name of this writer ... is 
hardly known among ourselves, and arouses neither memory nor inter- 
est." — Reich names Kemeny as probably a greater Hungarian novelist 
than Jokai. 

The data of translation give a convenient if imperfect 
basis for judging of the foreign popularity of a novel. 

Of Robinson Crusoe, there were 60 known imitations and parodies in 
Germany before 1770. — Werther was honored by 14 English transla- 
tions, to 1854; 19 French, to 1865; 8 Italian, to 185755 Spanish, to 
1876; and has been rendered into Danish, Dutch, Hungarian, Polish, 
Swedish, etc. — In 1877, I Promessi Sposi had known 116 Italian edi- 
tions; and had been translated. 17 times into German, 19 into French, 
10 into English, 3 into Spanish, and at least once into Dutch, Hunga- 
rian, Russian, Swedish, etc. 

164. Influence upon Literature. — No single novel has 
attained the position of an Iliad or a Hamlet in the world 
of literature, or been accepted by the literary academies 
as a standard of excellence — perhaps Don Quixote ap- 
proaches such position as closely as any prose fiction — ; 
but innumerable novels have exerted an important in- 
fluence upon literature, either directly or indirectly. The 
novelist has often had an effective hand in the establish- 
ment or destruction of literary fashions. He has often 
found strong disciples, or weak imitators; or has met a 
spirited reactionary movement, of which burlesque is one 
easily perceived phase. 

The effect of a novel upon other works of prose fiction 
is one of the most important and readily traced lines of 
influence. There are certain great European novels, rela- 
tively few in number, which are recognized as the ances- 
tors of the vast majority of lesser novels. Intimate 
acquaintance with these parent fictions is a long step 



206 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

toward a real understanding of the history of European 
fiction. Of course all these novels are themselves de- 
scendants as well as ancestors, but they may be considered 
as founding new branches of the family. 

Among such works are The Decameron, Amadis of Gaul, Monte- 
mayor's Diana, Don Quixote, Lazarillo de Tormes, Clarissa, Werther, 
Waverley, and Poe's short stories. 

For a single national literature, Russian fiction, on account of its 
comparative compactness and unity, is a good field in which to study 
the influence of novelist upon novelist. See, for example, Turner and 
Merejkowski for the dynamic relations of Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoyevsky, 
Turgenieff, and Tolstoi. 

The development of the novel has had a large influence 
upon literary criticism. Many of the problems of technical 
analysis, of the relations of art to science and morals, etc., 
in current criticism, have been modified if not introduced 
by the vogue of prose fiction. In fact, one occasionally 
hears the complaint that some recent writers seem to mean, 
by the criticism of literature, the criticism of fiction. 

Wilhelm Meister influenced the critical theory of Friedrich Schlegel. 
— George Eliot seems to have been an important factor in determining 
the general critical position of Edmond Scherer. — Zola's works have 
shaped the discussion of realism to an almost abnormal degree. One 
is sometimes in danger of forgetting that realism is as old as literature, 
and that it is found in other arts than literature. 

Many eminent novelists have themselves been critics of some note — 
among them, Goethe, Thackeray, Hugo, Spielhagen, Poe, and Tolstoi. 
The novelists, as a class, have been liberal readers of works of fiction. 

The novel has not only affected popular conceptions of 
history, but, as represented by the Scott school, has had 
an appreciable influence upon historical writing. Carlyle 
gave some severe criticism of the Waverley Novels, but 
he praised their general effect upon the interpretation of 
history. 



THE INFLUENCE OF A NOVEL 207 

165. Social Groups in General. — Under ordinary condi- 
tions, a novel reaches one individual at a time, and the 
phenomenon of a compact social group won to a " social 
consent " by its influence is less common than in the case 
of architecture, music, oratory, or the drama. 

So far as it is possible to arrive at a " determination des 
categories d ' admirateurs " (Hennequin), the data may 
throw light upon an individual novel, and upon certain 
social groups. Preferences in the reading of fiction may 
show the unconscious nature of the reader, his real emo- 
tional and aesthetic self, which lies below the social being 
the world knows. Of Giddings' " types of mind " (see 
Section 87), the fourth is doubtless less easily influenced 
by fiction than the others; but when it does respond to the 
appeal of a novel, the response is deserving of careful 
study. Many persons of critical intellect, however, still 
take the novel with little seriousness as compared with 
other forms of art. The real students of the novel make 
a small class in any reading community. 

The novel has probably had a very slight influence upon 
general philosophy; but now and then fragments of the 
interpretation of life by the novelist may have penetrated 
the sanctum sanctorum of the philosophers. 

Coleridge notes the manner in which the conception of " love " 
passed from the sentimental novelists to Buffon, other French natural- 
ists, and into Swedish and English philosophy. 1 

The influence of fiction upon the young and upon women 
has often been discussed. In early days, many novels and 
romances were written mainly for these social classes ; but 
the modern realist has claimed the right to win an audi- 
ence of mature men. 

1 Aids to Reflection ; On Sensibility. 



208 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

The relation of fiction to the young was a frequent topic in late 
eighteenth century criticism. At the same time, there was a movement 
aiming to produce a better class of fictions for youthful readers. 

Note the references to women readers in Euphues, The Spectator, 
The Rape of the Lock, Pamela, the dramas of Sheridan, etc. Rightly 
or wrongly, it is affirmed that woman is more likely than man to be in- 
fluenced by fiction ; more ready to be moved by her likes and dislikes. 
Nordau traces the worship of the military officer, among the women of 
Germany, to fiction ; and declares that 'the Parisienne is completely 
the work of the French journalists and novelists.' * 

1 66. Influence upon Individuals. — A novel is likely to 
interest the individual reader, to please or offend him in 
a marked degree, because it brings him face to face with 
other strong individuals, with social groups to which his 
imagination must adjust itself, and with a more or less 
positive interpretation of the life he himself knows, in 
outline if not in detail. 

While the novel is not characteristically written for the 
"fit audience, though few," most of the great minds of 
Europe, at all interested in art, have left some record of 
their impressions of this or that famous novel. Ben Jon- 
son requests every man in his audience to " exercise his 
own judgment, and not censure by contagion." 2 The fear 
of a critical " contagion " may sometimes drive an inde- 
pendent mind into fantastic revolt against the popular 
judgment ; but the candid opinion of a single honest thinker 
is worth weighing, even in the criticism of a novel. It is 
part of that entire body of mental experiences in which the 
individual novel is a real element. 

Gray's comments upon The Castle of Otranto and upon Ossian 
make interesting reading. — Samuel Johnson was a passionate lover of 
romance, in spite of his didactic criticism of it ; and he attributed his 

1 Paradoxes : The Natural History of Love ; The Import of Fiction. 

2 Induction to Bartholomew Fair. 



THE INFLUENCE OF A NOVEL 209 

failure to settle in a regular profession to its influence. (Quoted in 
Boswell, from Bishop Percy.) — Burns' fondness for The Man of Feel- 
ing throws some light upon that novel, upon Burns, and upon the 
social psychology of his time. — Wesley thought that The Fool of Quality 
was " one of the most beautiful pictures that ever was drawn in the 
world." — Examine the comment on fiction by St. Augustine, Coleridge, 
Goethe, Cardinal Newman, Ruskin, and Tolstoi. 

167. Kind and Degree of Influence. — These will depend, 
in part, upon the reader's intimacy with the individual 
work. There seems to be no valid reason why a truly 
great novel should not be studied as carefully as a great 
drama or epic ; but such study is rare, and the full effect 
of the novel is not often realized. For complete criticism, 
a work of fiction should be accepted as a part of real 
personal experience, emotional and imaginative ; and also 
examined intellectually, as a part of the world outside of 
one's personality. 

To the ordinary mind, the evidences of labor and of 
technical mastery are more noticeable in painting or archi- 
tecture than in literature. Again, some alertness of the 
senses is required before one can comprehend the real 
meaning of a spatial work of art. The physical sense of 
weariness may be related to the impression of architectural 
sublimity; the crescendos and diminuendos of the or- 
chestra challenge the mental activity of the listener. In 
the novel, one may gain a certain comprehension of the 
work in a comparatively passive attitude of mind. There 
is nothing objective to stir and stimulate attention. Yet 
the full evaluation of a novel is to be reached only by a 
genuine and persistent effort. Like all other real values, 
this also must be purchased by an expenditure of life itself. 

168. Perceptual Effect. — No two readers ever receive 
exactly the same impressions from the sensuous imagery 



210 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

of a novel. In this respect, as in others, Julian Haw- 
thorne's statement that it takes two to make a novel, the 
author and the reader, can be readily understood. Just 
how far the reader should attempt to reexperience the 
sensuous values the author has observed or imagined, is 
a matter for general aesthetic theory, or for private opinion. 
It will task the average reader to follow the author closely 
into details ; on the other hand, there is no law forbidding 
one to see and hear with more acute senses than those 
of the novelist. While there may at times be danger of 
the trees obscuring the forest, it is sometimes the single 
tree, even the single branch, twig, leaf, that one wishes 
to see. 

The senses to which most immediate and persistent 
appeal is made in the novel are those of sight and sound. 
The visual imagery includes the appearance of the charac- 
ters, singly and in groups, and the masses and details of 
the spatial background. Riemann gives a definition of 
the " pantomimischer Roman " — i.e., one in which more is 
seen than heard. 1 

Resolving the descriptions in the Conclusion of Silas Marner into 
"ultimate points" of visual imagery, one will find some thirty details. 
These vary in scope from the pink sprigs on Eppie's dress and the 
" dash of gold on a lily," to the vision of the wedding procession and 
the Rainbow group, as wholes. 

A study rather common at the present time is that of the color 
imagery of poetry. The contrasts, in this respect, between pseudo- 
classicism, romanticism, and realism, could be traced in prose fiction 
also. 

In the domain of sound, the essential appeal of the 
novel is in the utterance of the dramatis personae ; though 
there is often a great variety of sounds in nature, and in 

1 p. 232. 



THE INFLUENCE OF A NOVEL 211 

the occupations of social life. The voice of a character 
can be more completely realized by reading his speeches 
aloud. 

Frankenstein has a well-defined imagery of sound. Note the use 
of such terms as crack, roar, shriek, gurgling, groan, howling, thunder 
of the ground sea. 

Compare the last sections of Chapter I, and Section 95. 

The imagery, if it may so be called, of touch and smell, can be 
studied to advantage in modern naturalism and symbolism — in Zola, 
Tolstoi, d'Annunzio, and van Eeden, for example. Vathek, with its 
rich Orientalism, also makes a noteworthy appeal to these senses, con- 
sidering its early date. 

169. Sensational Effect. — In the present connection, 
sensation may be defined as emotion associated with con- 
sciousness of related physical condition. The novel may 
arouse sensations by direct description, or by subtle sugges- 
tion to the imagination or memory of the reader. It cannot 
picture their visible effects, as can painting or the stage 
drama; but it can go into very minute analysis of their 
nature, and their relations to the individual and his envi- 
ronment — it can make them appear in the "warmth" of 
concrete experience. 

Sensation would seem to be not only a legitimate but 
a necessary effect, if the canon of comprehensiveness 
is applied to the influence as well as the subject of a 
novel. The " sensational novel," in the usual meaning, is 
one in which this phase of experience is emphasized be- 
yond its true proportion, inadequately motived, or given 
a morbid tendency. Sensational effect is common in both 
romantic and naturalistic schools. It is often of a languor- 
ous and melancholy type in the sentimental novel, and 
of a more active and intense type in Gothic romance. 
Many realists inherit the romantic craving for sensation, 



212 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

and some are even inclined to find it the essence of per- 
sonal experience. 

In the preface of Frankenstein, Mrs. Shelley gives this frank testi- 
mony of the Gothic romancer : " Oh if I could only . . . frighten my 
reader as I myself had been frightened that night ! . . . I have found 
it ! What terrified me will terrify others ; and I need only describe 
the specter which had haunted my midnight pillow." 

170. Emotional Effect. — Probably no other form of art 
can compete with the novel in the sum total of emotional 
appeal. The short story, the lyric, the drama, and music, 
may each excel in this or that particular ; but for a com- 
bination of variety, intensity, concreteness, reality, of ex- 
hibition and interpretation, of sustained rhythms of excite- 
ment and repose, the novel is the best medium. It is 
perhaps this fact — of opportunity — that has suggested 
the theory that the study of emotion is the true function 
of the novel. 

The reader may enter by mere imagination into the emo- 
tions of the dramatis personae or the author ; or he may be 
moved more directly by situations and sentiments which 
touch his own emotional experience, present or past. It 
is doubtful if the novel ever arouses strong emotions 
entirely unknown to the reader before. 

One may follow the "line of emotion ,, for the reader, 
as for the dramatis personae ; and also study the general 
result at the conclusion. Strong dominant emotions may 
be aroused, or a sequence of minor ones ; the effect may be 
one of stability or of rapid transition, of harmony or dis- 
cord, of sympathy or antagonism — toward a character, 
the author, or life in general. 

The Aristotelian doctrine of catharsis may be discussed 
with reference to the novel as well as the drama. The 
ethical question whether the emotional energy the reader 



THE INFLUENCE OF A NOVEL 213 

spends upon fictitious characters weakens his emotional 
power in real life is relevant in this connection. Some 
critics affirm that the novel performs a special service to 
the present age, in that it allows the reader a free, natural, 
healthful flow of feeling, which, according to current 
standards of social taste, must be repressed in real life. 

Criticism attempts to distinguish between emotional 
effects which are truly aesthetic, and those which are not. 
To the first class belong delight in the technical mastery 
of the artist, the sense of ' difficulty overcome/ imaginative 
pleasure in the picture of life, whether it be joyful or sad, 
etc. ; to the second class, all emotions associated with the 
personal experiences, antipathies and sympathies of the 
individual reader. The properly aesthetic emotions do not 
lead to any external activity ; they never become real pas- 
sions. This distinction may aid one in the analysis of 
effects, but in many cases it seems a rather arbitrary and 
sterile antithesis. 

171. Conceptual Effect. — The reader who is concerned 
only with the story element of a novel will not give much 
attention to the facts and ideas it contains, as independent 
values. Compare, however, the opinions quoted in Section 
119. In a well-unified novel, even the most abstract ideas 
are part of the general artistic plan, and the story itself 
cannot be completely realized without an understanding 
of their relation to characters and events. 

Most novels give a certain amount of information new 
to the reader, and a certain number of ideas, either new in 
themselves or their relations, or calling for a fresh effort 
at clear conception. 

The analysis given in the chapter on Subject-matter 
may serve as a guide to an intensive study of conceptual 
effects. 



214 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

172. Volitional Effect. — Whether considered important 
for its artistic value or not, the novel has often influenced 
the will and the active life of individuals and social groups. 
It has fostered the " will to believe," and the will to doubt ; 
the spirit of submission to social law, and the spirit of rebel- 
lion ; the resolution to live more deeply, and the purpose 
to escape the problematic experiences of life so far as pos- 
sible. One may readily admit that it is not always, perhaps 
not usually, the fictions that are greatest as works of art 
which have had the most emphatic effect upon the actions 
of men ; but such effect could hardly be omitted in a gen- 
eral study of the novel. Again, such effect may or may 
not have been intended by the author ; and criticism does 
not necessarily lay the full burden of responsibility for 
evil result upon him, or grant to him the undivided laurel 
wreath for noble result. 

Werther was the immediate occasion, at least, of many suicides. — 
Religious restlessness and scepticism have doubtless been increased by 
many modern realistic novels. On the other hand, the novelists have 
had a share in bringing about a revival of religious reverence in the last 
few decades. — Scott thought that many " hitherto indifferent upon the 
subject, have been induced to read Scottish history, from the allusions 
to it " in the Waverley Novels. (Introduction to The Bride of Lam- 
mermoor, 1829.) — The influence of TurgeniefF and Mrs. Stowe upon 
the emancipation movement of the last century is a matter of general 
knowledge ; as is the effect of Dickens' fiction upon certain social re- 
forms. — Occasionally a definite institution is partially the result of a 
novel. All Sorts and Conditions of Men was a strong influence in the 
establishment of The People's Palace in London. 

173. The Influencing Elements. — To appreciate a novel 
correctly, it is doubtless necessary to feel its total effect as 
a unified work ; but in many cases, separate elements have 
very separate effects. That which appeals to one reader 
may offend another ; that which moves us at one time may 



THE INFLUENCE OF A NOVEL 21 5 

prove cold and ineffective at another. According to Bru- 
neti£re, it is as important that one should know why one 
likes or dislikes, in literature, as that one should like or 
dislike correctly. 

The professional critic, or the professional novelist, may 
be too much inclined to emphasize the technical excellence 
or defect of a work ; but no adequate judgment of a novel 
can be made without some knowledge of technic. At the 
present time, the layman can easily acquire a reasonable 
equipment for this purpose. If the American reader is 
still likely to neglect the values of form in a novel, it is not 
too late to quote Lanier's opinion, given some twenty years 
ago : — " How strange, then, the furtive apprehension of 
danger lying behind too much knowledge of form, too much 
technic, which one is amazed to find prevailing in our own 
country.' ' 1 

Every judgment on the higher values of a novel, on its 
human experiences and philosophy of life, is a self-judg- 
ment of the critic. Absolute refusal to receive an influence 
may indicate as marked a weakness as too great readiness 
of assent to the novelist's appeal. 

Publishers give testimony that the title exerts a strong influence 
over the average reader ; at least before he knows a work. — Robin- 
son Crusoe, Gulliver, and Don Quixote are familiar examples of 
fictions which have a very different effect upon the juvenile and upon 
the mature reader. Robinson Crusoe appeals to the boy as a stirring 
tale of adventure ; to the critic, a primary interest lies in the marvelous 
verisimilitude, and the method of attaining it ; to the reflective mind, 
the philosophical views of society, industry, and religion are of great 
historical value. In Gulliver, the political and social satire, the bitter 
misanthropy, escape the young reader. In Don Quixote, the humor 
reaches the majority of readers ; the depth of pathos is fully felt only by 
a minority. 

1 The English Novel, p. 30. 



2l6 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Scott's comment on the reception of the Waverley Novels gives 
many examples of the effect of separate elements. He defends, on 
ethical grounds, the catastrophe of Ivanhoe, which was attacked by 
the critics. He recognized the failure of Sir Piercie Shafton, in The 
Monastery, and repeatedly refers to the poor effect of the White Lady 
in the same romance. The success of Mary, in The Abbott, led him 
to attempt Elizabeth, in Kenilworth. 

174. The Causes of Influence. — A study of causes may 
easily lead one into difficulties, in literary criticism, as in 
history, ethics, or biology. As plant-growth may be said 
to depend upon the seed, the soil, and atmospheric condi- 
tions; the influence of a novel depends upon the novel, the 
reader, and the social conditions. Perhaps the analogy is 
not exact, but it may be suggestive. In the case of con- 
temporaneous effect, the author and reader are often under 
the same general social influences, for which the novel is 
simply a distributing point. 

The novel has this advantage over legal documents and 
perhaps over religious creeds, as a test of real character, 
that it often reaches the sub-conscious self, catches the 
reader unawares, so to speak. The unconscious optimism 
of a man who believes himself a pessimist may be shown 
by his choice of fiction. A reader who nominally accepts 
a creed of renunciation of the fleshly appetites may crave 
the sensationalism of debased passions, and find it in the 
novel. In the individual or in social groups this uncon- 
scious or covert self may later show itself in a more public 
manner. The taste for sentimental literature in the middle 
of the eighteenth century might have foreshadowed, to the 
acute critic, the upheavals of the French Revolution period. 
Often a mental craving, revealed in literary taste, is at first 
semi-humorous, but later deepens into very serious aspects. 
It is a long way from The Castle of Otranto to Frank- 



THE INFLUENCE OF A NOVEL 217 

enstein, but a careful analysis of the social causes which 
made the former a literary success will aid the critic in 
understanding the latter. 

In the spontaneous likes and dislikes of literary taste, 
the critic finds a good field in which to study what the 
sociologist calls "organic sympathy and antipathy." 

Methods of publication and reviewing are among the atmospheric 
conditions of the novel-plant. Even in the eighteenth century the 
reviewers were recognized as a powerful, and often a malign, influence 
upon popular opinion. — Scott explains the relative failure of The 
Monastery by reference to social conditions ; and traces the success of 
Quentin Durward in France to French acquaintance with its histori- 
cal allusions. — Senior gives an itemized explanation of the popularity 
of Uncle Tom's Cabin, for England and New England separately; 
the causes he notes varying from the " moral coloring " of the novel to 
the lack of international copyright. 

To the private reader, the circumstances under which a 
given novel first became familiar may be forever associated 
with the novel itself, as the circumstances of composition 
may remain in the memory of the author (see Section 159). 
To many individuals, certain novels, not necessarily very 
important in themselves, will always be clearly remem- 
bered, because they entered into episodes of deep personal 
joy or sorrow. 



CHAPTER XII 

COMPARATIVE RHETORIC 

175. Nature of the Study. — After the study of an indi- 
vidual novel, in itself, and in relation to the forces which 
shape it and the effects produced by it, the field of interest 
may be broadened by a comparison of the novel with other 
kinds of literature. Many points of this kind have already 
been given, but in an isolated and incidental manner. 

By comparative rhetoric is here understood the com- 
parative study of the " forms of discourse," and of the 
recognized types of literature. Such a study might be 
considered specially appropriate with reference to the 
novel, because of the complex, composite nature of that 
type. 

In a detailed analysis, separate examination might be made of the 
historical, technical, and theoretical relations of the novel to each of the 
other literary types. It may be sufficient for the present purpose to 
indicate some of the principal features of the study, in outline. 

176. The Forms of Discourse. — Professor Gummere 
defines the drama as 'an epic whole composed of lyric 
parts/ A novel might often be characterized as a narra- 
tive frame with descriptive filling ; but some novels could 
be better viewed as descriptive wholes with narrative parts. 
No single formula of this kind will correspond accurately 
to all the variations actually found in fiction. 

Exposition, in the general rhetorical sense, is an essential 

218 



COMPARATIVE RHETORIC 219 

element in every novel ; and it may be the dominant type 
of structure, as in the philosophical novel, and in some his- 
torical novels — the real aim being to explain some idea or 
some state of society. In the purpose novel, the inclusive 
scheme may be argumentative. 

A distinction between the forms of discourse which serve 
respectively as a means and as an end may sometimes be 
helpful. Narration, for example, in the novel as in the 
sermon, may be merely the agent of an expository purpose 
or of a lyrical impulse. 

177. Prose and Poetry. — In systematic German criticism, 
the novel is usually considered as belonging to poetics, 
and it is discussed in close connection with the drama, the 
epic, and the lyric. English rhetoric has more commonly 
associated it with the other forms of prose literature. The 
typical novel is neither entirely prosaic nor entirely poetic, 
but is perhaps the best existing example of a literary form 
which combines these two qualities. 

The criticism of the romantic movement suggested the 
phrase " science and poetry " as denoting a more accurate 
contrast than " prose and poetry." Some students have 
seen in the novel an unusual opportunity to harmonize the 
modern interest in science with the permanent human in- 
terest in poetry. Purely scientific value must remain sub- 
ordinate in the novel, as now understood; for science 
yearns for the abstract formulas of metaphysics and math- 
ematics, while concreteness has been named as one of the 
stylistic qualities of the novel. It would offend the laws 
of mental economy to call a novel into existence for the 
sake of a scientific exposition. A cathedral may illustrate 
certain laws of physics, chemistry, and geology, but it would 
not be reasonable to build cathedrals mainly for the sake 
of such illustration. 



220 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

In an individual novel, study the application of the conceptions of 
poetry found in the Defenses of Sidney and Shelley, and in the preface 
of the Lyrical Ballads. Compare the statement of the relations of poetry 
and science in the last, with that of Lanier: — "And now if we pass 
one step farther and consider what would happen if the true scientific 
activity and the true poetic activity should engage themselves upon one 
and the same set of facts ? We arrive at the novel." 1 

178. Prose and Verse. — The elementary relations of 
prose, poetry, and verse may be simply arranged thus : — 

Substance. Form. 

(1) Prose Prose 

(2) Prose Verse 

(3) Poetry Prose 

(4) Poetry Verse 

Examples of these four relations can easily be recalled 
by the student of literature. The only one that may be 
considered, in most cases, to be abnormal, is the second. 
It is chiefly because the novel carries so great a weight of 
prose substance that prose form seems to be its natural 
medium. In more detail, these are among the character- 
istics of the novel which point to the necessity or pro- 
priety of prose structure: (1) its great length; (2) the 
variety and frequency of its structural transitions, as from 
dialogic to non-dialogic form ; (3) its desire to use docu- 
ment or speech actually historical, or seemingly so, in form 
as well as in substance ; (4) its historical and aesthetic as- 
sociation with other types of prose ; — in this connection it 
might be said that just because the novel is so closely 
allied with the epic, a different external medium is desirable, 
to give it greater individuality; (5) its modern quality, 
and its appeal to an audience for which prose is in general 
more attractive than verse. Most of the stylistic qualities 

1 The English Novel, p. 10. 



COMPARATIVE RHETORIC 221 

of the novel given in Chapter VIII have at least a decided 
tincture of prosaic value. 

Compare the prose short story with such realistic verse as the tales 
of Crabbe, and many of the dramatic monologues of Browning. — The 
" novel in verse n has never shown a very rich development, but it has 
a field of its own, and is valuable for purposes of comparison. Many of 
the long narrative poems of Browning are very closely akin to the real- 
istic novel in spirit, and to a large extent in method. Study also the 
novelistic elements in Lalla Rookh, Aurora Leigh, The Princess, 
Amours de Voyage, and The Angel in the House. Pushkin's Eugene 
Onegin is a famous example of this type in Russian fiction. 

For a brief discussion of prosimetrical structure, see 
Section 12. 

179. The Short Story. — The novelist has often served 
an apprenticeship as a short story writer, or has carried 
on the two branches of the art together. If he confines 
himself to the longer form, his work may yet show the 
influence of the masters in the sister type. In very many 
early novels and romances, short stories are included, inde- 
pendent in artistic value, and sometimes independent in 
origin. Except in this manner, the great English novel- 
ists of the mid-eighteenth century — Richardson, Fielding, 
Smollett — produced very little in the field of the short 
story. 

In some respects the relation of the short story to the 
novel is similar to that of the ballad to the epic, and an 
interesting study might be made by tracing out the analogy 
in detail. Kindred analogies between a lesser and a greater 
type might perhaps be discovered in architecture, painting, 
and music. 

Among the single clues to the nature of the short story, 
as compared with the novel, criticism suggests its artifi- 
ciality — its greater isolation in relation to the total experi- 



222 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

ence of life ; and its more pronounced unity. The unity 
may be found not only in the subject and structure of the 
fiction itself, but in the process of composition, the shap- 
ing forces, and particularly in the impression upon the 
reader. Because it is less like life than the novel, the 
short story may approach more nearly the perfection of 
art, and may be judged somewhat more severely. The de- 
velopment of the prose poem, and of all very short, highly 
finished fictions, has created a standard of excellence in 
detail quite alien to the history of the novel. Sharp, sus- 
tained antithesis, extreme repression, and dominant sym- 
bolism, are among the methods better adapted to the 
briefer form. A review of the qualities of style given in 
Chapter VIII will show that several of them are not char- 
acteristic of the short story, and that one or two of them 
are even opposed to its normal tendency. 

Study the technic and spirit of Adam Bede, with reference to the 
Scenes of Clerical Life. — Compare the same types of incident, charac- 
ter, and settings, as they appear in the two forms of fiction. — Write in 
outline or in full text, short stories based on well-marked episodes of a 
novel, such as the Lantern Yard history, the coming of Eppie, and the 
visit of Godfrey and Nancy to the cottage, in Silas Marner. Compare 
the results, in artistic meaning, with the original passages. — Condense 
an entire novel into a short story, and note the aesthetic gain and loss. 
— Give a critical explanation of the reasons why such genuine short 
stories as The Gold-bug, The Ambitious Guest, and Ethan Brand, can- 
not be transformed into novels. 

180. The Epic. — The better histories of prose fiction 
give extended discussion of its historical relations to epic 
poetry. Every individual novel is in one way or another 
an example of these relations. Up to the nineteenth cen- 
tury, the novel was very frequently modeled after the epic, 
as a matter of conscious artistic method. This is notably 



COMPARATIVE RHETORIC 223 

true in respect to the Greek romances, the romances of 
chivalry, and the heroic romances. Fielding's conception 
of the novel was based largely upon its correspondence 
with the epic, though he also noted the contrasts. During 
the nineteenth century, a conscious critical distinction be- 
tween the epic and the novel has aided in defining the 
exact position of the latter. In extreme form, such dis- 
tinction marks what is almost an antagonism between the 
two types, if by epic is understood the original, primitive 
heroic poem. 

Few writers have produced both great epic poems and 
great novels, of pure types. The epic poet since the 
Renaissance has usually been academic and traditional; 
while the representative novelist has often been exactly 
the opposite. Scott is probably one of the best examples, 
in later times, of a high degree of power in both types of 
literature ; though his narrative poems are not epic in the 
fullest sense. 

In technic, many of the differences between the two 
forms are due to the fact that one uses prose, the other 
verse. A comparison of dialogue, settings, characteriza- 
tion, motivation, etc., in a representative epic and a repre- 
sentative novel, will throw light upon the kind of technical 
mastery demanded of the novelist. The difference in sub- 
ject-matter — in the themes of love, the supernatural, and 
the martial, for example — leads also to differences in 
form. Many such epic motifs as the invocation of the 
muses, the catalogue of forces, the monologue of a martial 
leader, and the combat with a monster, have no direct anal- 
ogies in the novel. In many novels, however, these and 
similar motifs, as well as epic similes and other stylistic de- 
tails, are imitated, either seriously or in a spirit of burlesque. 

The theoretical comparison of the two types includes 



224 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

such topics as individual and social authorship ; simplicity 
and complexity in the treatment of social life ; the inter- 
mingling of the tragic and the comic, of the fictitious and 
the historical; familiarity and novelty of subject; rela- 
tive values of plot and characters ; the appeal to cultured 
and to popular audiences, etc. In some of these matters, 
the resemblance of the two types is clear; in others, their 
separate nature and function are more apparent. 

Compare the burlesque of epic formulas in Don Quixote, The Rape 
of the Lock, The Battle of the Books, and in Fielding and Smollett. — 
Trace the possible influences from the modern novel upon the Idylls of 
the King. — Distinguish the epic and the novelistic elements in Sordello, 
The Ring and the Book, and other long narrative poems of Browning. 
— Compare Taras Bulba and Dead Souls, both of which are supposed 
to be particularly epic in spirit. — Compare the treatment of the crusades 
in The Talisman, and in Jerusalem Delivered. — Outline an epic poem 
based upon Ivanhoe, The Last of the Mohicans, or War and Peace. 

181. Biography. — The general development of modern 
biographical writing in not a few particulars resembles that 
of the modern novel. The attitudes of romanticism and of 
realism towards the individual life appear in essentially 
the same manner in the real and in the fictitious biog- 
raphy. Froude's life of Carlyle shows the nature of 
nineteenth century realism, interpreting the life of a strong 
man, as clearly as any novel of the ethical school. 

Many novelists have been authors of biography or auto- 
biography, and their methods in these types can be com- 
pared in some detail with their novelistic methods. Bunyan, 
Rousseau, Goethe, Newman, Tolstoi, and many other famous 
men have left some interpretation of their own lives in both 
the autobiography and the novel. 

In technic, it is obvious that the biography offers many 
problems similar to those of the novel ; and one can imagine 



COMPARATIVE RHETORIC 225 

a novelist learning much from a diligent study of the 
masters of the other type of literature. In theory, the 
novel has often been considered as essentially a fictitious 
biography. The word "life," as applied to the hero, has 
been common in the titles of novels for a long period. 

Goethe announced a certain theory of biographical interpretation 
in his Dichtung und Wahrheit, and Defoe stated much the same idea 
in the preface of Colonel Jacque : — " neither is it of the least moment 
to inquire whether the Colonel hath told his own story true or not ; if 
he has made it a History or Parable, it will be equally useful," etc. 

From the reader's point of view the fictitious hero of a 
novel may appear more real, more vitally connected with 
the reader's experience, than the hero of a biography, 
however important in the world of actual history. As to 
ethical effects, the resolution against prejudice, the enlarge- 
ment of sympathy, the sense of human isolation or fellow- 
ship, may be aroused quite as deeply by contact with a 
character existing only in the imagination as with one that 
actually sinned and repented. 

Compare the treatment of famous historical characters in biography 
and in fiction. In many cases, the popular conception, which is some- 
times the true one also, has been created largely by the interpretation of 
the novelist. — Assuming that Silas Marner was a real individual, recast 
the novel into the form of a biography. 

182. History. — At the present time, there is an effort 
to construct history in the spirit of exact science. So far 
as this effort succeeds, history passes altogether from the 
domain of literature proper ; but in the past, and to a large 
extent in the present, history belongs among the types of 
artistic narrative. 

The development of the historical sense, and the trans- 
fer of emphasis from the ecclesiastical to the secular, are 



226 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

among the interesting points in which history may be com- 
pared with the novel. Many novelists have done good 
work in the other field ; and Karamzin, recognized as one 
of the founders of historical writing in Russia, adapted to 
history the general method of interpretation of human 
experience which he first used in fiction. 

Much of the preceding analysis of this volume may be 
applied to any history which is at the same time an artistic 
narrative. In a comparison with the novel, one may note 
as items of more than technical significance, the problems 
of relative emphasis upon events and persons, upon indi- 
viduals and social groups ; the continuous, pressing demand 
for selective process ; the proportion between exhibition 
and interpretation ; the possible interpretation of history in 
terms of biology or theology ; and the methods of attaining 
illusion. 

The theory of the novel has often allied it with history. Fielding 
writes in Tom Jones (IX, i), "as we have good authority for all our 
characters, no less indeed than the vast authentic doomsday book of 
nature, . . . our labors have sufficient title to the name of history." 
This entire chapter is well worth reading, and comparing with simi- 
lar passages of the same author. — It is a curious fact that Defoe's 
Plague Year is not only often classified with history in the libraries, 
but has led to a spirited dispute among critics whether it is really to be 
considered as in any sense a novel. — Sidney's famous discussion of his- 
tory and philosophy, in their relations to poetry, may be applied, with- 
out essential change, to the criticism of the novel. 

183. The Essay. — The essay, as commonly understood 
at present, originated in the awakened intellect of the 
Renaissance, and has stood for the wide variety of inter- 
ests of the modern secular mind. In this respect, and in 
its lack of definite form, it resembles the novel. Many 
individual essays could be better compared with the short 



COMPARATIVE RHETORIC 227 

story, in that they give an isolated, intensive view of an 
episodic subject. 

One can easily recall eminent novelists who have been 
successful in the essay ; but probably the typical essayist 
is too abstract in thought to cultivate so concrete a form 
of literature as the novel. The essay, as essay, does not 
aim at any illusion for its principal effect, though it may 
employ illusion as a means, It may, like the short story, 
be primarily the expression of a mood, or an endeavor to 
create a definite emotional or moral attitude in the reader. 
The border line between the essay and the novel is crossed, 
so far as form is concerned, by essays written in dialogic, 
epistolary, or narrative form, and by novels in which the ex- 
pository comment really dominates the composition. The 
essay value of the author's comment, in brief passages or 
in complete chapters of a novel, is often quite apparent. 

184. The Lyric. — The kinship of romance and of cer- 
tain types of short story to the lyric has been mentioned 
several times in the preceding pages. Pastoral romance, 
as represented by Sannazaro's Arcadia, is not only largely 
composed of verse, but is to a great extent an expression 
of the lyrical episodes of the author's experience. In 
important respects, the lyric is almost the exact antithesis 
of the novel proper. In England, the modern novel arose 
in a period when lyric poetry was at a very low ebb ; and 
the lyrical schools of the romantic movement, and of pre- 
Raphaelitism produced little that is significant in prose 
fiction. It is not difficult to mention individual great 
novelists who have written great lyric poetry ; but this con- 
dition may be considered somewhat exceptional, and in 
most cases it is easy to make clear distinction between the 
lyrical and the novelistic talent of an author, either in 
period of production or in artistic quality. 



228 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Hugo and Pushkin may be counted among the great lyrists, but their 
prose fiction, in the main, does not belong with the novel proper. 
Thackeray, George Eliot, George Meredith, and Thomas Hardy are all 
lyric poets of some accomplishment, but can hardly be recognized as 
among the great masters. Blake, Burns, Keats, Shelley, Heine, Ros- 
setti — the pure lyrists — wrote nothing of great value in prose fiction. 

A lyric may incidentally have many of the elements of 
novelistic form, — dialogue, realistic settings, sharply de- 
fined incident, etc., — but these elements do not belong 
to the real nature of a lyric. It may use dialect, but usu- 
ally becomes less lyrical thereby. The dramatic lyric, 
such as Browning loved to write, has much in common 
with the prose character study, but it is just so far removed 
from the nature of pure song. 

A lyric cannot be fairly judged by the same ethical 
standards as the novel. Scepticism, morbidity, misan- 
thropy, have very different values, recorded in a lyric of 
transitory mood, and embodied in a novel which summa- 
rizes the habitual attitude of the author. Again, a song 
without any considerable ethical content might be worthy 
of our admiration, whereas a long novel without deep 
moral meaning might be severely condemned. 

In the study of an individual novel, one may note the 
traces of lyrical attitude in the original impulse, and in 
the process of composition ; the passages of lyrical quality 
in the final text ; and the lyrical effects upon the reader. 
The incorporation of actual lyrics in a prose fiction has 
been briefly noticed in Section 12. 

In Silas Marner, select " lyrical germs " or motifs which could be 
developed into a dirge, a pastoral song, a wedding hymn, a love sonnet, 
etc. — Study a few lyrics in which the narrative element is sufficient to 
suggest a short story. — Compare realistic lyrics, such as Rossetti's 
Jenny, Tennyson's In the Children's Hospital, and Browning's La 



COMPARATIVE RHETORIC 229 

Saisiaz, with realistic prose fiction, in the details of substance and 
form. 

See the glossary, under " lyrical." 

185. Journalism. — The historical associations of jour- 
nalism with the novel are quite intimate, and have con- 
tinued for two centuries. From the Sir Roger de Coverley 
papers until the present time, the practise of publishing 
prose fictions in periodicals has been common. Not only 
The Spectator, but The Idler, The Rambler, and Gold- 
smith's semi-journalistic Citizen of the World, all contain 
much that is novelistic in subject; and make use of 
such novelistic forms as the imaginary character, the 
" feigned letter," dialogue, allegorical story, etc. The 
book-reviewer was early recognized as an important power 
in modifying the popularity of fiction in general, and of 
individual works. Much of the best criticism of fiction, as 
well as most of the worst, has appeared in periodicals. A 
considerable number of novelists have been journalists, 
and have carried the spirit and method of journalism into 
the field of their art. 

In spirit, journalism resembles the realistic novel in its 
modernness, its social quality, its democracy, and its 
secularity. A critic who vigorously attacked or defended 
the one form of literature would logically take much the 
same attitude toward the other. Both have been severely 
criticized by the academic, classical mind, on aesthetic 
grounds ; and by the puritanic mind, on ethical grounds. 

Thoreau's advice to 'read not the times but the eternities, 1 would 
forbid one to loiter with the vast majority of popular novels. These 
words of his, with reference to the newspaper, are even more directly 
anti-novelistic : — "If you are acquainted with the principle, what do 
you care for a myriad instances and applications ? To a philosopher 
all news, as it is called, is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old 



230 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

women over their tea." * Compare Carlyle's interpretation of journal- 
ism as serving one function of the church in modern society : " A preach- 
ing friar settles himself in every village, and builds a pulpit, which he 
calls Newspaper," 2 etc. 

186. Other Types of Literature. — Among other literary 
types with which a novel may be compared, with some 
special fitness, are the " character," the letter, and the 
sermon. 

The treatment of individual life in the character is too 
typical, too isolated, to resemble closely that of the novel ; 
but character- writing made its contribution to the historical 
development of the novel, and might still serve as a kind 
of preliminary exercise for the novelist. A series of char- 
acters, such as those of Earle's Microcosmography, may 
make considerable approach to the novel, by way of stud- 
ied contrasts, sketches of social groups, and description of 
place settings. 

The historical relation of letter-writing to the rise of the 
novel in the eighteenth century is clear; and there are 
many similar technical points in the two forms. In a 
series of real letters, one may note, in much the same 
manner as in history or biography, the proportion of em- 
phasis upon incident and character, upon the individual 
and his social environment, upon exhibition and inter- 
pretation, etc. 

Outline the transformation of a dialogic and narrative novel into 
epistolary structure. — Compare the amount of novelistic material in 
some of the famous series of real letters, such as the correspondence 
of Goethe and Schiller, of Carlyle and Emerson, of Mrs. Montagu, 
Horace Walpole, or Chesterfield. 

The purpose novel sometimes approaches very near to 
the nature of a sermon. It is often said that journalism 

1 Walden ; What I lived for. 2 Sartor Resartus ; Organic Filaments. 



COMPARATIVE RHETORIC 23 1 

and fiction have become substitutes for the sermon in 
modern society. Compare the statement of Carlyle in the 
preceding section. The number of recent novels with 
titles based on a biblical text may be worthy of notice. 

A sermonistic quality might be expected in the novels of Sterne, 
Kingsley, and Newman. For one thing, a thinker accustomed to ad- 
dress a living audience might be presumed to have an unusually clear 
consciousness of his reading public, when he turns to literature as a 
means of communication. 



CHAPTER XIII 

COMPARATIVE ESTHETICS 

187. Relation of the Separate Arts. — When art in gen- 
eral is examined in comparison with science, or life, or 
nature, the differences between the separate arts may- 
appear of little moment. On the other hand, when any- 
single art is studied intensively for a long period, its indi- 
vidual peculiarities may at times appear more important 
than its family resemblance to the other arts. The arts 
differ more in body, in form, than in spirit. It is clear 
that they have very diverse modes of appeal to the senses ; 
but the intellectual and moral messages they bring often 
have a remarkable unity. The technical student of any- 
art is likely to emphasize its peculiarities of material and 
process of execution, with too little attention to its more 
general artistic values. On the contrary, some critics, 
whose interest is mainly historical or ethical, may almost 
lose sight of those physical characteristics which distinguish 
each art from its fellows. 

Among the arts there are small sub-groups with special bonds of 
technical, theoretical, or historical union. Note, for example, the inti- 
mate relations of music and the drama, of architecture and sculpture. In 
some respects, the novel and the drama may be viewed as composing 
such a group. 

As a subject for poetic treatment, the relation of the arts is a com- 
mon theme in Browning. Among other references one may recall the 
ideas of Jules, in Pippa Passes, and of Aprile, in Paracelsus ; and the 
career of Sordello, and of Cleon. The same conception at work in 

232 



COMPARATIVE ESTHETICS 233 

the practise and theory of a real artist, is familiar in Browning's famous 
contemporary, Wagner. 

188. Classification of the Arts. — The following simple 
examples are given merely by way of illustration. More 
elaborate classifications can readily be found in text-books 
of aesthetics. 

I. 1. Presentative arts: — architecture; music; land- 
scape gardening. 
2. Representative arts : — painting ; sculpture ; 
drama ; poetry. 
II. 1 1. Plastic arts: — architecture; sculpture; painting. 

2. Tonic arts : — music ; song ; poetry. 

3. Mimical arts: — dance; meloplastik ; drama. 
III. 2 1. Arts of sound : — poetry ; music ; dancing. 

2. Arts of sight: — sculpture; painting; architecture. 

Such classifications give one a general view of the aesthetic 
relations of the novel ; which is, of course, included under 
poetry. 

189. Method of Study. — The analysis of the novel in 
the preceding pages, in its larger outlines, may be applied 
to any work of art. The topics of such analysis may be 
summarized thus: external material; external structure; 
internal structure; subject-matter; style; the process of 
composition ; the shaping forces ; the effects produced. 
The novel could be compared, in all these points, seriatim, 
with each of the other kinds of art. If one wishes to lay 
the emphasis more strongly upon the types of art, as sepa- 
rate wholes of interest, it may be best to follow other 

1 Zeising : ^Esthetische Forschungen. 

2 Veron : ^Esthetics. The somewhat curious classification of dancing is 
explained on p. 29. 



234 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

methods of study. One form of simpler comparison might 
note, in a general way, the historical, technical, and theo- 
retical relations. 

In the present volume, the individual novel is supposed to be the 
central subject of inquiry, and abstract theory to be subordinate to 
acquaintance with an actual concrete work. The study could be made 
most specific by comparison of an individual novel with an individual 
work in each of the other arts. 

190. The Drama. — The drama is essentially a composite 
art, based on the cooperation of play-writing, dramaturgy, 
and histrionics. Its text, considered purely as poetry, may 
be compared with the novel in the same general manner 
as was suggested for the epic in the preceding chapter. 

Any analysis of the relations of the drama proper and the novel may 
be modified for the various forms of music drama. The recent devel- 
opment of a new form of " melodrama," offers some very interesting 
points to the student of any type of plot-literature. 

The historical relations of the drama and the novel have 
been intimate throughout Europe. In many respects the 
two arts have aided one another, and have satisfied much 
the same emotional cravings, in both the artist and his 
public. The sources of a dramatic text have very com- 
monly been found in other forms of literature; and since 
the Renaissance, the novel has been one of the favorite 
forms. To some extent, however, as is the case with the 
novel and the epic, the novel and the drama may be con- 
sidered as rivals. 

Among the famous novelists who have done notable work in the 
drama, are Goethe, Manzoni, Hugo, and Tolstoi. Fielding is a particu- 
larly interesting example. Considered by some critics as the very 
greatest of English novelists, he is also one of the chief figures in the 
English dramatic history of his century. 

The list of well-known novels which have been dramatized would 



COMPARATIVE ESTHETICS 235 

be very extensive. Scott and Dickens have had abundant representa- 
tion upon the stage, and Rousseau, Balzac, Dostoyevsky, and Zola have 
been honored in like manner, if not in like degree. 

Senora Pardo Bazan gives the great vogue of the drama in Spain 
as an important cause of the retardation of the novel in that country. 
Professor Raleigh mentions more than one historical situation, in Eng- 
land, in which the one art has thrived at the expense of the other. 

The criticism of the novel, in general and in many 
details, has been based upon the previously developed 
criticism of the drama. Many technical terms and analy- 
ses familiar in the criticism of fiction have been borrowed 
from the other field. A glance at the list of types in the 
appendix will indicate the great extent to which the classi- 
fication of fiction illustrates this fact. Hostility to the 
novel on aesthetic grounds has not always implied hostility 
to the drama, but in general ethical attacks upon art, the 
two forms have frequently been condemned for substan- 
tially the same reasons. 

The technical differences between the novel and the 
drama have often been reviewed in recent criticism. In 
exactness of structure and finish of detail, the drama has 
obvious advantages. It is marked by immediacy — in its 
costumes, scenery, and stage properties ; its spoken lan- 
guage, its living human bodies. The actor shares with the 
orator the privilege and the responsibility of using his own 
body as in a strict sense his primary artistic material. The 
effects, at least upon the unimaginative mind, are for these 
reasons likely to be very sharply defined ; but there may 
be danger of emphasizing the material at the expense of 
the moral. 

Again, every stage presentation of a dramatic text gives 
it a new interpretation, and produces almost an independ- 
ent work of art. This interpretation introduces a group 



236 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

of artists between the writer and the audience, whereas 
the novelist comes into one's presence unaided — and 
unhindered. There is one Shylock in Shakespeare's poem, 
another for the individual reader of the play, and another 
for the playgoer who sees Sir Henry Irving's " creation " 
of the character. 

The novel is much more free than the drama in the 
treatment of vague settings, physiognomy, gesture, and 
speech ; in flexible transitions in time, place, incident, and 
rate of movement ; in the introduction of animal and child 
life, and the supernatural; in thematic discussion, and 
direct interpretation of the author. 

The " dramatic " element may be found in painting, 
music, and sculpture, though drama is the art in which it 
is most adequately presented. An idea of the dramatic 
is gained by combining such ideas as intensity, activity, 
causal series, struggle, and physical presence. It is inter- 
esting to select and study the chief dramatic qualities of a 
great novel, and to note to what degree and in what man- 
ner it is a potential drama. The scenes a faire (see the 
glossary) of a novel are not necessarily those of a drama 
following the same general plan. 

Among the most dramatic situations of Silas Marner, are the draw- 
ing of the lots, the quarrel of the brothers, Eppie at the New Year's 
party, and the visit of Nancy and Godfrey to Silas. Analyze the dra- 
matic quality of these and other scenes according to the suggestions 
just given. Among situations which a dramatist might very possibly 
have inserted are meetings between Molly (living) and Godfrey, and 
Molly and Nancy. 

An attempt to dramatize this novel brings into prominence such dif- 
ficulties as these : — the child life of Eppie ; the considerable amount 
of author's comment ; the reveries of characters, hardly capable of being 
expressed in dramatic language ; the animal life ; the long intervals and 
other irregularities in time perspective. 



COMPARATIVE ESTHETICS 237 

191. Painting. — In painting, the value of pure form 
may be the chief interest for many artists and many critics ; 
but to the mind of the average man, the subject-matter, the 
power of painting to express substantial ideas, emotions, 
and incidents, are at least of equal importance. If a paint- 
ing is considered for its purely formal value, the compari- 
son with the short story is closer than that with the novel. 
The external material of painting is less significant than 
that of any other art. 

Schasler gives this suggestive, though perhaps somewhat theoretical, 
parallelism between painting and poetry x : — 

Painting Poetry 

Subjective : — landscape ; lyric. 

Objective : — genre ; epic. 

Subjective-objective : — historical ; dramatic. 

This tabulation suggests the old questions of the legitimacy of literary 
painting, and of pictorial literature ; and touches that general compari- 
son of plastic art and literature considered in Lessing's Laokoon. 

Both painting and the novel may represent individuals 
and groups, animals, inanimate objects, landscapes, inte- 
riors, historical or fictitious incidents, etc. Painting must 
describe all these subjects through the medium of concrete 
and condensed visible imagery, without outside comment. 
This fact may lead to an emphasis on the typical, and a 
tendency toward the symbolical. The two arts differ in 
subject-matter in this respect : the novel is always centered 
in humanity, whereas a painting may be devoted to nature, 
either animate or inanimate. Details such as tapestry, 
architectural ruins, animal groups, etc., which must be 
entirely episodic in the novel, may be the subject of whole 
compositions in the other art. Many phases of social life 

1 System der Kunste. 



238 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

— martial, domestic, ecclesiastical — are treated in such 
kindred manner in the two arts as to invite a comparative 
study. Any romance of chivalry, pastoral romance, or 
novel of domestic life may be compared with individual 
paintings concerned with the same subjects. The battle- 
field, to cite one specific theme, has been represented in 
art principally by fiction and by painting. 

Even the single painting, but in a clearer manner, a series of paintings, 
such as Hogarth's Marriage a la Mode, may introduce a decided narra- 
tive element, and approximate the interest of plot proper. Painting has 
frequently taken its subjects from fictitious literature, and interesting 
studies may be made by comparison of literary narratives with series 
of paintings illustrating them. For example, compare Abbey's Holy 
Grail pictures in the Boston Public Library with Tennyson's epic. 

In theory, the novel and painting both introduce the 
question of artistic illusion, its purpose and the methods 
of attaining it ; the question of form versus expression of 
subject ; and the relation of art to morals. (See the quo- 
tation from Henry James in the notes on novelistic criti- 
cism, in the appendix.) While classicism and romanticism 
may both be examined comparatively in the two arts, 
it is in connection with realism and impressionism that 
recent criticism has made the most fruitful comparisons. 

While no novel could be adequately represented by a 
single painting, every novel contains many details which 
could be given with equal force, often with more adequacy, 
through the other art. 

In Silas Marner, outline a single painting which would be the best 
possible pictorial representation of the entire composition. Suggest 
any probable changes of emphasis upon persons, incidents, landscapes, 
interiors, etc., if the novelist had also been a painter. 

Among small details which have a certain purely pictorial quality, 
notice the tankards and the smoky atmosphere at the Rainbow ; the 
gleam of the fire upon Eppie's hair ; the mist in which Dunstan ap- 



COMPARATIVE ESTHETICS 239 

proached the cottage ; the texture of the disturbed sand on the floor 
of the cottage, and of a piece of linen in the process of weaving ; the 
dresses at the New Year's party. In the elements of light and color, 
a novel may be compared with painting, not only in details, but in gen- 
eral effects upon the reader. Fragmentary pictorial values in Silas 
Marner are the autumnal colors of the foliage ; the bright turf contrasted 
with dark cones ; the shadows lengthening under the hedgerows ; the 
ash-fretted screen ; the dark-blue cotton gown of Eppie, setting off her 
white throat, etc. The general color scheme of this novel may be said, 
perhaps not too fancifully, to be somewhat sombre, in keeping with the 
dominant emotional tone. 

As portraits of types of character, consider the subjects of the pedlar ; 
the country doctor ; the Squire ; the horse-trader ; the miser ; the sis- 
ters ; the childless, etc. For scenes of a larger scope, consider the puss 
and the pup ; the Rainbow group ; theological discussion of peasants ; 
Christmas in the village church ; the peasants' wedding ; Molly's 
death ; Eppie by the pond ; learning to smoke. The author herself 
suggests one scene for a painter. It is interesting to remember that 
the novel originated in what might be called a pictorial memory. 

192. Sculpture. — Historically viewed, sculpture differs 
from the novel in that it was a highly developed art dur- 
ing the classical period. Its best examples have perhaps 
always been "classical" in a broad sense; and what is 
classical is to some extent anti-novelistic. It is with the 
epic rather than with the novel that one might best asso- 
ciate sculpture, in an aesthetic comparison. The intimate 
historical associations of sculpture with architecture have 
no exact analogies in the relations of the novel to any 
other art. 

In this art, the external material is often of great beauty 
and rarity, considered in itself. It is often little known in 
the ordinary practical uses of life ; in this respect offering 
a striking contrast to language. The externality of form 
in sculpture is very pronounced, and is the element which 
is often the most impressive to the average spectator. 



240 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Certain languages may be called sculpturesque, in a figu- 
rative sense, but these languages (Latin clearly being 
one) are not the ones most responsive to the art of the 
novelist. 

Sculpture may characterize the individual and the 
group, may represent a simple incident, and, in a series of 
compositions, may approach very closely to a plot-interest. 
It is clearly anti-novelistic in reference to the qualities of 
complexity and comprehensiveness ; and it cannot rival 
the flexibility of the novel in the delicate shadings of emo- 
tion, incident, or description of place. Even more than 
painting, though for similar reasons, sculpture shows a 
tendency toward the typical and the symbolical. 

The choiceness of the materials used in sculpture, com- 
bined with the necessity for a masterly physical process 
of execution, may suggest that a subject ought logically 
to be dignified and of large permanent significance to 
deserve the epithet " sculpturesque." In addition to these 
qualities, the sculpturesque implies calmness, objectivity, 
perfection of form, simplicity of outline, and a high de- 
gree of intellectual interest. The rigid repression of non- 
essentials is necessary. Sculpture may be said to reproduce 
life sub specie ceternitatis — the eternity of material form 
at least ; whereas the novel lives to a large extent by vir- 
tue of its treatment of the concrete and transitory. Some 
short stories may be called sculpturesque in their entirety ; 
in a novel, this quality must be episodic, though it need 
not be accidental. 

In Silas Marner, there are several passages which have a consider- 
able sculpturesque quality, according to the analysis just given. Note, 
for example, the comparative simplicity, self-repression, and intellectual 
calm of Chapter XIX. As subjects for actual treatment in sculpture 
one might suggest : — Wildfire dying ; the old violinist ; Godfrey and 



COMPARATIVE ESTHETICS 241 

his spaniel ; the doctor looking at dead Molly ; and " Memory " (Nancy 
in reverie). Godfrey, because of his fine form, might be especially 
attractive to the portrait-sculptor. 

193. Music. — As in the novel, from the present-day 
point of view, the greatest development in this art has 
been mainly since the Renaissance, and even to a large 
degree since the beginning of the eighteenth century. 
Unlike the novel, the progress of music has been associ- 
ated with increasing perfection of mechanical agencies 
of expression. Another point in common with the novel 
is the democracy of music, its wide-spread popularity, 
which results in a certain tendency to lower its standards 
among the masses. 

In the general history of art, the romantic movement 
has special relations to music ; while realism, so prominent 
in painting, has comparatively scant embodiment in pure 
music. The works of Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Bee- 
thoven may be compared in many important respects 
with the fictions of Manzoni, Hugo, and Pushkin. The 
relations of morality to art, the contrast between the eccle- 
siastical and the secular service of art, are other topics 
which have much in common in the histories of music 
and of the novel. 

The external material of music is not only closely re- 
lated to that of the novel, but is in part actually identical 
with it. This fact opens up a very inviting field of techni- 
cal criticism. The sciences which most directly concern 
this material in the two arts, are both branches of acous- 
tics; but the science of music may or must approach 
more closely to an exact mathematical basis than philology. 

Music resembles the novel in that it is composed of 
details arranged in a temporal series. This fact makes 
possible a comparison of many such points as preparation, 



242 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

reminiscence, mass, episode, cadence, introduction, conclu- 
sion, etc., in the two arts. In orchestral or chorus music, 
the interweaving of separable elements resembles the 
corresponding composition of plot. The analysis of a 
sonata or a symphony might be helpful to the stu- 
dent of formal structure in the novel. The "line of 
emotion " for a novel, as given in Section 35, could often 
be very closely followed in musical interpretation. In 
general, the entire structure of a great musical composition 
will bear more rigid analytical investigation than that of 
a novel. Instrumental music cannot narrate, but it has 
the power to furnish a significant accompaniment to a 
literary narration, or to suggest itself a series of the prin- 
cipal incidents already familiar in a literary composition. 

Though the term " descriptive " is found in musical 
criticism, it has not the same application as in fiction. 
The general mental and emotional elements of a situation 
can be suggested by music, but it cannot reproduce the 
exact details of place or time settings. Music can give 
the general atmosphere of the seasons, of morning and 
of evening, but it could not represent with any accuracy 
the historical period of Ivanhoe, or the particular evening 
of Molly Cass' death. 

Compare the aesthetic interpretation of Delirium, Sadness of Soul, 
Consolation, in Mendelssohn's Songs without Words, with the inter- 
pretation of similar themes in a novel. 

The terms " dramatic " and " lyrical " are also found in 
musical criticism. In its way, music can characterize indi- 
viduals, the seven ages of man, or the life of social groups. 

Compare the presentation of the Scandinavian peasant in the music of 
Grieg with the corresponding literary descriptions of Bjornson, Lie, and 
Kielland. The national characteristics of the Pole appear in the music 
of Chopin as well as in the conscious literary analysis of Sienkiewicz. 



COMPARATIVE ESTHETICS 243 

It is with the lyrical element of fiction that music in 
general has the most obvious kinship ; and this fact once 
more places the short story and the romance in a separate 
category from the novel. Music stands unrivalled in its 
power to suggest the vague, the supernatural, etc., and to 
produce all the effects of sudden and delicate emotional 
transition. 

As in the drama, so in a musical performance by others ; 
than the composer, there is an artist intervening between 
the original artist and the audience; and the physical 
process of execution is visibly and immediately before the 
audience. 

A question of special interest, which may be taken as 
representative of a large class of questions concerning the 
musical type of style, is the capacity of musical art to 
express the comic. 

In Silas Marner, suggest the themes and the general tone of child 
songs for Eppie, and of instrumental accompaniment for Aaron. The 
general style of the music in the Lantern Yard church service is quite 
clearly indicated in the text. Among the musical themes toward which 
certain episodes of the novel point, are, the spirit of the spring and of 
the autumn; moods of memory, longing, and love; the marriage of 
peasants ; labor at the loom ; the solitary Christmas ; an old-fashioned 
country New Year's dance; an evening at the village inn; and the 
death of the opium eater. 

194. Architecture. — The historical relations of classical, 
Gothic, Renaissance, and revived Gothic architecture, have 
definite analogies in the field of fiction. In both arts, the 
transition from ecclesiastical to secular influences, the 
shifting of emphasis from a common church to individual 
nationalities, has much the same general outline. Doubt- 
less national schools have been much more determinate in 
the more material art. One could hardly imagine Ruskin 



244 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

making a plea for an English school of fiction, with such 
a detailed program as he suggested for a school of archi- 
tecture. It was in those countries which had a rich Gothic 
architecture that the romantic movement was most naturally- 
developed. (Compare Garnett's statement, given in Sec- 
tion 153.) The Gothic elements in architecture and in 
fiction were in one manner or another connected in the 
minds of Horace Walpole, Goethe, Scott, Mrs. Radcliffe, 
and Hugo. 

In external materials, architecture varies more than any 
other art. In part, it uses rare and precious materials, 
associated mainly with artistic service ; in part, materials 
as common and as intimately associated with practical daily 
life as language. In materials and in structure, architec- 
ture is the most objective of the arts. The average mind 
is at once impressed by the mere physical presence — 
length, height, mass — of a great building; and these 
characteristics are also of essential artistic meaning. The 
labor of construction, and the comparative permanence of 
works of architecture, are facts which make the lamp of 
memory shine more clearly in its domain than in that 
of fiction. The processes of material decay, addition, and 
restoration have no analogies in the novel. 

The relation of part to whole is very different in a build- 
ing and in a novel. In the former, there are many details 
which have less artistic meaning, separately considered, 
than the single words in a work of fiction. Yet it is in 
unity of structure that the two arts may be most readily 
compared. The best plots in the novel have a marked 
architectural quality. When the mind grasps the general 
design of a cathedral, the effect ceases to be sensuous and 
becomes one of the best examples of calm, free, intellect- 
ual mastery over the senses to be found in any form of art. 



COMPARATIVE /ESTHETICS 245 

In all that concerns the warmth of concrete individual 
experience, the trivial affairs of the common heart, archi- 
tecture can offer no successful rivalry to the novel. It 
cannot readily be associated with the emotional history of 
an individual artist, as every novel can be. So far as 
architecture serves practical purposes as a shelter from the 
elements, and a center for community interests, it is con- 
nected with social life, however, in a more real manner 
than the novel is. 

In any novel of ethical quality, Ruskin's interpretation of the lights 
and shadows of architecture can be applied. In an imaginative view, 
the note of aspiration in Silas Marner is Gothic, the sceptical element 
belongs to the Renaissance. This novel is hardly simple enough in 
general structure to be classical ; not sensuous enough to be Oriental. 
There is of course pronounced contrast between the lights and shadows 
of human experience. The constant presence of the author's personal- 
ity is an important non-architectural quality. There is too much of her 
feminine and personal view, too little of the social, the national, or 
racial, for the spirit of architecture. 

195. Landscape Gardening. — The Catholic spirit of the 
middle ages was inclined to consider nature as under the 
curse of human sin, and given over to the devil. The art 
of landscape gardening, in modern Europe, is one of the 
innumerable results of the Renaissance spirit. At first it 
seems to have been decidedly aristocratic in tendency, as 
appears in the essay of Bacon on Gardens, and in similar 
essays by later writers. In the verse of the Restoration 
period, the parks of London are associated largely with 
the sovereign rather than with the citizens. Later, the 
progress of democracy may be followed in this art in a 
line causally related to the corresponding line in the history 
of fiction. The schools of pseudo-classic, romantic, and 
realistic taste are all represented in landscape gardening. 



246 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Addison, for example, shows in this respect, as in many 
others, an interesting combination of pseudo-classicism with 
a foreshadowing of Gothic taste. 

The external materials of this art are natural in a more 
complete sense than is true of any other art. Landscape 
gardening, from one point of view, might be called the 
most real of all the arts; and in connection with real- 
ism, the idealization of nature, and especially with natural- 
ism, a comparison with the novel offers some quite tangible 
points. In subject-matter, it would be very difficult to give 
any specific theme for a work of landscape gardening, 
which could be in any definite way compared with themes 
in the other arts. 

There are some analogies, interesting to the fancy at least, in the 
relations of miniature compositions to life-size in this art and in prose 
fiction. The small, perfectly kept city square might be compared 
in a number of respects with the short story ; while such great master- 
pieces of the art as Lincoln Park, Central Park, and Hyde Park, or still 
more clearly the entire unified system of parks in a great modern city, 
might be quite closely compared with the full-length novel, in some very 
important if very broad qualities of style. 



CHAPTER XIV 

GENERAL /ESTHETIC INTEREST 

196. -Esthetic Analysis and Esthetic Theory. — If, with- 
out any a priori theory of what art is or should be, an in- 
ductive, comparative study is made of works of art, certain 
common elements are discovered in all of them. It may be 
that no one of these elements, or even the combination of 
them, will entirely distinguish an artistic work from a non- 
artistic ; but a careful study of them may keep the student 
from wandering too far from facts in his later theorizing. 

In the present volume, the intention has been to follow, in the main, 
the method of such an inductive study. A summary of some of the 
principal points of analysis has been given in Section 189. In this chap- 
ter, the movement is, in a general way, from such analysis toward a more 
free, and perhaps a more suggestive, glance at aesthetic theory. 

197. Nature and Humanity in a Work of Art. — Art may 

be briefly and broadly characterized as the modification of 
nature by man. 

Nature appears in every work of art, first, in a direct 
manner, in the sensuous material which the artist uses as a 
medium ; second, in a more remote manner, in the mental 
substance and form — for the artist takes his ideas largely 
from nature, and arranges them in forms, particularly those 
of space and time, which are in a real sense given to man 
by nature. 

The humanity of a work of art appears always in the 
personality of the artist and the personality of the recipient ; 
often, and in the novel always, in the subject-matter. 

247 



248 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

198. Language as External Material. — Considering 
language as an artistic medium, one may study its an- 
tiquity, beauty, rarity, flexibility, etc., in itself, or in compari- 
son with the other mediums of art. It has already been 
noticed that language is in such constant use in practical 
life that the average mind finds it somewhat difficult to 
acquire a keen sense of its qualities as an artistic material. 
This fact might be considered as an advantage or a disad- 
vantage for the novelist. To the realistic novelist, it has a 
certain clear advantage. 

No sensuous material can ever be perfectly satisfactory 
as a medium through which to express all the nature of an 
artistic soul. This fact recalls the various technical and 
moral attitudes of the artist toward his material. He may 
be vexed at its limitations, and attempt in a rebellious 
spirit to transcend them ; or he may take delight in calm 
obedience to the will of nature, as it appears in marble, 
paint, or language. He may fail to acquire complete un- 
derstanding of his medium ; or he may become so absorbed 
in it as almost to forget that ideas and ideals may be 
expressed by means of its service. 

Some degree of special interest in language would naturally prove 
helpful in the study of a novel. One with a limited color sense would 
hardly make the most successful student of painting ; one indifferent to 
variations of tone would not undertake serious criticism of music as an 
art. 

It is mainly the facts and theories immediately related to the external 
mediums of art which give rise to physiological aesthetics. 1 The physio- 
logical view of art seems to require less emphasis in literature than in 
the non-literary arts, because language itself is only in part to be con- 
sidered as a sensuous medium. 

1 For special attention to this phase of aesthetic interest see, for example, 
Grant Allen's Physiological ^Esthetics, N.Y., 1877; and Veron. 



GENERAL /ESTHETIC INTEREST 249 

The arts may be ranked according to the materiality of 
the mediums they employ. On this basis, Hegel arranged 
the scale of the fine arts thus : — architecture, sculpture, 
painting, music, poetry. 1 In one important respect, there- 
fore, this philosopher gives a very high place to the novel 
(if considered as poetry) ; though the judgment might not 
have much weight with an anti-Hegelian. 

199. The Value of Form. — Form is an elemental fact in 
nature, and in large part artistic form is a more or less 
direct imitation of natural form. In a more inevitable 
manner, form is an essential element in all art, as defined 
in Section 197 ; the main human modification of nature 
being in the form and not in the composition of the 
material. 

The student cannot escape the presence of form, how- 
ever much he is inclined to under-estimate it ; nor can he 
escape the fact that it is mainly in this form — external 
and internal — that the humanity and the significant indi- 
viduality of a work of art inhere. His theory may make 
form less important than matter, but his analysis must 
invariably turn and return to the development of raw mate- 
rial into expressive shape. (Compare the first conception 
of style, in Section 121.) 

In the novel, form is of emphatic value, because even 
the external material has almost no artistic meaning con- 
sidered purely as a natural product, and reveals the shap- 
ing mind of the artist in all its continuous and intricate 
details. 

200. Individuality of a Work of Art. — The simple fact 
that a work of art is given a material embodiment is suffi- 

1 See Weber's History of Philosophy, English translation, p. 5246". 



250 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

cient to give it a physical individuality — for no two por- 
tions of matter can occupy the same place at the same 
time. Such individuality, however, belongs to works of 
nature as well as to works of art, and guarantees nothing 
more than such numerical identity as is found in every 
grain of sand. In works of art made by machinery, also, 
two pieces may be alike so far as the eye can detect ; and 
of exactly equal artistic value, so far as the imagination 
can discover. It is human mind or human hands which 
give noblest form to a composition, and it is practically 
impossible for the mind to think twice in exactly the same 
manner ; or for the hands to repeat their execution 
exactly, in a true expression of mind. 

The last fact does not prove that every novel has a note- 
worthy value of beauty or moral stimulus; but it does 
indicate that every novel is an unmistakably individual 
work from the strictly historical, social, and psychological 
points of view. There are no real duplicates in the history 
of fiction; for there are no two novels with the same 
arrangement of words. 

201. Unity — General Design. — Unity may be viewed 
as a characteristic of external nature, or as an ideal of the 
human mind. In either case it extends beyond the boun- 
daries of art ; but in art there is an unusual opportunity to 
conceive and attain a satisfactory form of unity. Even 
without definite purpose of the artist, and apart from all 
theory as to what art should be, a significant degree of 
unity is found in every work of art, through a necessity 
of the artistic process. 

In some works, a more satisfying unity may be found in certain 
details than in the composition as a whole. In the novel, examine the 
unity of sentences, paragraphs, and chapters ; of single incidents and 
single characters. 



GENERAL ESTHETIC INTEREST 25 1 

Examples of well-unified chapters were given in Chapter I. In Silas 
Marner, unity of character is perhaps best represented in some of the 
minor dramatis personas — Mrs. Winthrop and Macey, for example. 
The marriage of Eppie is one of the most thoroughly unified events of 
the novel. Make a study comparing these and similar details with the 
details of a musical composition, a painting, and a cathedral. 

It is in the general design that the most severe test of 
unity is found. In the novel this design is a larger value 
than plot, in the narrow sense of unified action. Whether 
it include details outside the illusion or not, is a matter 
of definition ; but it is clear that in an important sense, 
every word in the novel belongs to a single composition. 
(Compare Sections 4 and 29.) A high standard of unity 
demands that all the author's comment, dramatic or non- 
dramatic, brief or extended, should have clear and vital 
relation — intellectual, imaginative, or emotional — to the 
general design of the work. 

Unity may be examined with reference to the author, 
the work itself, or the effect upon the reader. The short 
story is often very well-unified in the last particular. (See 
the glossary, under " impression. ") In the work itself, 
the central unity may be found in incident, character 
(compare Smollett's definition of a novel, in the notes on 
novelistic criticism), or character group, setting, theme, or 
style ; or it may be impossible to locate it in any one 
element. The novel proper is more likely to emphasize 
character, in this function ; the romance often centralizes 
in incident ; the short story is very variable. 

Again, unity may be viewed as physical, intellectual, or 
moral. Physical unity is only indirectly represented in the 
novel ; and can be best examined in the spatial arts. In- 
tellectual unity belongs most clearly to a true philosophical 
interpretation, either in the author or the reader. Moral 



252 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

unity, found in a free and fearless soul, that remembers 
the maxim, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of 
little minds," would be considered almost the supreme 
excellence of a novel by some ethical critics. 

Unity may be called simple or complex, in reference to 
the amount and variety of material unified; and in art 
each of these types of unity has its peculiar interest. A 
very simple unity is studied to better advantage in the 
plastic arts or in the short story than in the novel. The 
unity of a novel, when attained, is comparable with that 
of a large scientific, historical, or philosophical generali- 
zation. 

In connection with the last point, one may note as ten- 
dencies which endanger a satisfactory form of unity : the 
failure to exhibit a complexity sufficient to make the unifi- 
cation of it a real artistic achievement, a victory of imagina- 
tion or character over the confusion of mere phenomena ; 
the opposite error of accumulating more material than can 
be given vital unity ; and the assumption of a superficial 
unity, that cannot endure careful investigation. 

202. Contrast. — As with unity, contrast may be con- 
sidered as an element in the nature of things, or in the 
nature of the mind (compare Section 101, Royce); but in 
art there is special opportunity to express it in significant 
and attractive forms. Contrast is so easily conceived that 
the chief danger is often that of over-use of its resources. 
This opportunity and this danger are probably more 
obvious in the short story and the romance than in the 
novel proper ; yet because contrast is so important a fact 
in life itself, it must have a considerable place in extended 
realistic fiction. 

In the novel, contrast may be found within the limits of 



GENERAL AESTHETIC INTEREST 253 

a single element, as in a paradoxical character ; or in the 
relations of two elements, as in contrast of incident and 
setting, of theme and character, etc. It may appear in the 
consecutive structure, in small or large units; or be em- 
bodied in more complex manner in the warp and woof of the 
" internal structure.' ' Contrast in the novel cannot have 
that direct appeal to the senses which it may have in the 
spatial arts, and it is likely for that reason to be more 
intellectual or more moral in immediate quality. Again, 
the novel must study contrast as it appears in concrete 
incidents, persons, and places, warm with human associa- 
tion ; and cannot make that direct appeal to the intellectual 
interest in abstract contrast, possible in music or archi- 
tecture. 

In plot-analysis, two large phases of contrast have 
already been noted — that between the rise and the fall 
of the action, and that between play and counter-play. 

In Silas Marner, an example of a broad contrast, which can be carried 
out into considerable detail, is found in the relations of Lantern Yard 
and Raveloe. Note the two congregations, the two churches, the two 
pastors, the two life-episodes in the hero himself, etc. Contrast in the 
life of Lantern Yard itself is found between the picture in the early part 
of the novel, and that of the visit in Chapter XXI. — The general con- 
trast between the joyous and the sad in this novel has already been 
compared with the lights and shadows of architecture. (Section 194.) 

203. Proportion. — Of this quality, once more, fiction can- 
not give so direct and sensuous evidence as the spatial arts ; 
but the general principle of proportion can be traced in a 
well-constructed novel, with the result of increased aesthetic 
delight. In music and the spatial arts, repetition, audible 
and visible, respectively, is a means of bringing out the 
value of proportion which is much less definitely used in 
the novel. 



254 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

A certain degree of artistic proportion may sometimes 
be found in the alternation of dialogic and non-dialogic 
form. (See Section 28.) Often, in the novel, better 
examples of proportion are found in the relation of small 
parts to a large part, than in the relation of parts to the 
whole composition. In a well-constructed episode there is 
often a satisfactory proportion between the incidents and 
the event, and between events and episode. In any scene 
which would be called finely artistic, there is a true dis- 
tribution of values between the characters, the action and 
the settings. In the novel as a whole, common sense or 
moral sense may demand a reasonable proportion between 
mass and artistic meaning, between exhibition and inter- 
pretation, and between the tragic and the comic. 

As an example from Silas Marner, study the value of proportion in 
the relation of the Lantern Yard and the Raveloe life — in number of 
incidents and characters, in space given to exhibition and interpreta- 
tion, in the massing at important turning points, etc. 

204. The Comic and the Tragic. — An initial idea of 
these qualities may be gained by a suggestive contrast of 
their characteristics. The following analysis may not 
prove very accurate, but it leads the way to an examina- 
tion of the contrast in concrete examples. It is not to be 
assumed that any one item is sufficient to distinguish the 
two qualities, but a combination of several may be a fairly 
accurate test. 

The Comic The Tragic 

(1) The social. The individual. 

(2) The pleasurable. The painful. 

(3) The normal. The abnormal. 

(4) The intelligible. The unintelligible. 

These characteristics may be examined in the experience 
of life itself, as well as in art. In both life and art, among 



GENERAL ESTHETIC INTEREST 255 

common conceptions of tragic condition are social ostra- 
cism (compare the treatment of exile in the epic and the 
drama), disease, insanity, crime, sin, and death. 

Pseudo-madness is a favorite motif through which to suggest the 
tragic without fully entering its domain, as in The Comedy of Errors. 
Temporary madness may also be introduced with comic effect, as in 
A Midsummer Night's Dream. Compare the treatment of madness in 
Don Quixote and in Sir Launcelot Greaves. Smollett had the power 
and the tendency to treat insanity both in a spirit of Gothic horror, and 
in a spirit of Shakespearian burlesque. 

Compare the treatment of death in the beginning of Sense and 
Sensibility and in Silas Marner. In the former example, death is 
scarcely tragic, because it is considered as a normal event, and looked 
at from a social point of view — the view of comparatively happy living 
persons, who dominate the interest of the author and the reader. The 
responses of Miss Austen and George Eliot to Queen Gertrude's 

truism, — 

"Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die, 
Passing through nature to eternity," 

are curiously unlike. Very famous tragic conceptions of death are 
found in Werther and in Clarissa. Analyze the manner in which Rich- 
ardson gives to the death of his heroine an unusually tragic effect. 

Any element of the comic or the tragic may be noted 
in the physical, mental, or moral world. Each world has 
its own comic and tragic aspects, and a combination of 
these aspects, or a contrast between them, offers a rich 
opportunity to the artist. Moral tragedy is sure to be 
found in all the greatest novels, in some form or other ; 
but the treatment of what might be called intellectual 
tragedy — the tragedy of the thinker — is a specially 
favorite motif with many modern writers. 

The comic or the tragic may be found in either character or inci- 
dent ; and even the settings incline in the one direction or the other, by 
way of association. Other analyses may follow the contrast into the 
human and the superhuman, and into the exhibition and interpretation. 



256 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

In connection with plot, a very important phase of the 
relation of the comic to the tragic is found in movements 
from one to the other. There are some situations without 
apparent tendency in either direction — in equilibrium; 
but most important situations tend decidedly in one direc- 
tion or the other. The four main movements are, (i) from 
the comic to the more comic ; (2) from the comic to the 
tragic ; (3) from the tragic to the more tragic ; and (4) from 
the tragic to the comic. These four movements are not of 
equal frequency in plot-formation, or of equal value for 
artistic effect. They may be traced not only in the plot 
as a whole, but in single actions, in episodes, single events, 
etc. The " avoidance' ' of comic or tragic result when it 
seems inevitable, produces some striking effects. A point 
or situation of " final suspense," suggesting possible tragedy 
or possible comedy, before a catastrophe of opposite char- 
acter, is found in perhaps the majority of well-formed plots. 

205. The Beautiful and the Unbeautiful. — The novel 
cannot rival several of the other arts in the presentation 
of absolute beauty. If the analysis of novelistic style in 
Chapter VIII was correct, the novel is not by nature de- 
voted to the purely beautiful. One must turn to painting, 
music, sculpture, or lyric poetry for the embodiment of 
untroubled beauty ; and the short story is better adapted 
to its expression than is the novel. 

The unbeautiful in a work of art may be justified — or 
explained — in various ways, of which these are among 
the more important : it may be introduced for the sake of 
increasing the effect of the beautiful ; or for the sake of 
truth, conceived as a nobler reality than beauty ; or it may 
be allowed because it is presented with so much imagina- 
tion — the ideal rather than the beautiful being considered 



GENERAL /ESTHETIC INTEREST 257 

the supreme test of art. (See Moulton's study of Richard 
Third as the "ideal villain. ") Struggle is commonly sup- 
posed to be an important element of the dramatic, and the 
great novels are usually characterized by a large dramatic 
element. Note the bearing on this conception of the fol- 
lowing statement of a philosopher : " When we regard 
morality as involving a struggle of the will, it can scarcely 
impress us as beautiful." 1 

As in the other analyses of this chapter, the beautiful and the un- 
beautiful may be traced in details, or in the whole work ; in characters, 
sentiments, or incidents ; in the physical, mental, or moral domain. 

Akin to the beautiful, if not considered as phases of it, are the sub- 
lime, the picturesque, the graceful, etc. Related to the conception of 
the unbeautiful in somewhat the same manner, are caricature and the 
grotesque. 

206. Artistic Truth. — Truth may be conceived as fidelity 
to something outside the mind of the author — fidelity to 
individual facts ; to the typical elements in those facts ; to 
the goal toward which life seems to be moving, or to the 
purpose which seems to direct it. Another view of truth 
in art, more subjective, locates it in the mind of the artist. 
It may then take the form of faithful record of his im- 
pressions of the outer world ; or the form of perfect alle- 
giance to the ideal of his own inner world. In either of 
these views, artistic truth is substantially equivalent to 
sincerity. These various conceptions are obviously con- 
nected in part with some of the familiar " isms " in fiction. 

The large scope of the novel offers abundant opportunity 
for violation of truth, as in life itself it is more difficult to 
speak truth through a long career of various circumstances 
than through the commonplace events of an average day. 
In the difficulties due to the large array of miscellaneous 

1 Mackenzie : Manual of Ethics ; 3d ed. p. 30. 



258 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

data which he reviews, to the effort of attaining verisimili- 
tude and unity of thought, the novelist is often tempted 
from the straight and narrow way, when the disciple of a 
simpler form of art might escape the danger. 

Truth is sometimes spoken of as either negative or posi- 
tive. Reticence may give a false impression, and then 
arises the question, how far is the artist to be blamed for 
the erroneous result ? It has been previously noticed that 
the biblical Book of Esther is, so far as the text is con- 
cerned, absolutely atheistic, in a negative way ; but this 
fact does not imply that the work contains any positive 
atheism, or that the author was aware that he might pro- 
duce a non-religious impression. Perhaps the artist cannot 
be placed upon the witness-stand to give " The truth, the 
whole truth, and nothing but the truth," so help him God ; 
though to the great artists, the situation is fully as serious 
as that of a court of justice. 

Sidney's Defense attempts to answer the old complaint that poetry 
is a lie. He declares, " Now for the poet, he nothing affirmeth, and 
therefore never lieth. " This statement may be in some respects no 
more than sophism ; but in another view, it seems to note clearly an 
important fact in the nature of artistic fiction. 

207. Artistic Illusion. — The artist finds, to a certain de- 
gree, a model for the aesthetic effects of illusion in nature 
herself. No one who has admired the marvelous mirages 
of seacoast or lakeshore could fail to see, imaginatively, 
the resemblance between them and the dream-pictures of 
human fancy. The student of psychology could make 
an interesting comparison between the development and 
effects of artistic illusion, and those of insanity, hallucina- 
tion, and kindred forms of morbid mental condition. 

In the reception of art, " conviction" of the imagination is one mat- 
ter ; of the judgment, another. Probably a few weak minds here and 



GENERAL /ESTHETIC INTEREST 259 

there have been insanely convinced of the reality of fiction. The degrees 
between such insanity and cold-blooded refusal to enter the illusion an 
artist has prepared, make an interesting scale, and raise some delicate 
points in the theory of aesthetic interpretation. 

In a complete and constant value, illusion is found only 
in the representative arts ; but it has a minor occasional 
function in architecture and music. To the layman, its 
values seem to be most clearly shown in painting and in 
the drama. 

In painting, a curious if not strictly legitimate example of the shading 
from reality to illusion is found in the cyclorama — with its real objects 
in the foreground. Compare the combinations of painting or sculpture 
with a background of real landscape. 

Illusion is produced by means of an arrangement of real 
materials, and it often happens that these materials inter- 
fere with the illusion. For a simple example, if in a novel 
a medieval character should use the scientific language of 
the nineteenth century, it is not probable the scientific 
reader would " believe" in the reality of that character — 
though he might choose to be deceived, for the sake of 
aesthetic delight. Except in the purely dramatic novel, a 
continuous illusion is rarely attempted ; and in few novels 
of any form is it attained with complete success. A distinc- 
tion could be made between narrative illusion — the imagi- 
native conviction that the events related have happened ; 
and dramatic illusion — the corresponding belief that those 
events are happening in the present time. 

A discussion of the methods of producing illusion would be in large 
part a review of recent studies of realism. Professor Moulton's analysis 
of the methods of u rationalization n and " derationalization " in relation 
to the drama, ought to prove helpful to the student of the novel. 

There is perhaps no English novelist in whom artistic illusion of a 
realistic type can be examined with more profit than in Defoe, and no 



260 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

better novel for this purpose than The Plague Year. Compare these two 
statements regarding that work : — "It is fictitious throughout " (Cross, 
page 29) ; — " Now Defoe's work is not a fiction, nor is it based upon 
fiction ; and great injustice is done to his memory so to represent it." 
(Introductory Observations, Brayley's edition, 1882.) 

208. Theories of Art. — A comparison of representative 
theories shows that some of them keep quite close to the 
nature of art — as analyzed in Section 189; and that 
others seem to arise without particular reference to such 
nature, possibly in violation of it. 

A few broad and familiar conceptions of art readily 
applicable to the novel may be given, in a very condensed 
statement. 

1. Art is an imitation of nature ; as accurate as possible. 
(Aristotelian, realistic conception.) 

2. Art transcends nature ; is a human escape from its 
ugliness, complexity, transitory quality, etc. (Platonic, 
idealistic conception.) 

3. Art is an expression of the individuality of the artist. 
(Lyrical, impressionistic conception.) 

4. Art is a specialized (emotional, moral) means of 
communication between man and man. (Sociological 
conception.) 

In the study of an individual novel, the question is, 
which of these conceptions does the novel best embody ? 
and which of them, if any, did the novelist have in 
mind ? 

As an inductive study, it would be interesting to compare 
a considerable number of conceptions of art by eminent 
critics, and reduce them, so far as possible, to common 
terms. The non-scientific student might find greater pleas- 
ure in applying to the novel the conceptions of thinkers 
whom he recognized as personal masters. 



GENERAL /ESTHETIC INTEREST 261 

The following application of specific ideas of art to Silas 
Marner is merely illustrative : — 

" In Art, the paramount appeal is to the Emotions — its purpose be- 
ing pleasure. " (G. H. Lewes.) — The main appeal of the hero, in his 
character and his history, and of most of the other characters, is largely 
to the emotions ; but " pleasure " would need a rather broad definition 
to be considered as the real purpose of this novel. Such definition, 
however, is very common in aesthetic criticism. 

" Art is a human activity, consisting in this, that one man consciously, 
by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has 
lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings and 
also experience them." (Tolstoi.) — George Eliot lived through emo- 
tions similar to those of her hero, in her personal moral history ; the 
feelings of some of the other characters she experienced only in the 
imagination. Is this second form of emotional experience outside of 
Tolstoi's conception ? Silas Marner has been a literary success, only 
in part a popular success ; so that it only partially satisfies the last 
requirement of Tolstoi. 

" All the great arts have for their object either the support or exalta- 
tion of human life, — usually both." (Ruskin.) — In Silas Marner, 
support is given to human life by the spectacle of patience under suffer- 
ing ; and by the exhibition of rational, moral law governing the individ- 
ual and social life. There is a certain exaltation of human life in the 
beauty and fearless fidelity of Eppie, and in the happiness which 
radiates from her ; but on the whole, in this novel and in her other 
works, George Eliot is inclined to look upon life as a matter of noble 
endurance rather than of brilliant victory. 

"Art must make obvious . . . the structure of the actual world, the 
forms of its connection, and the absolute value and significance of these 
forms." (Lotze.) — It is clear that this idea of art calls for interpreta- 
tion as well as exhibition. It demands some philosophical power in the 
artist, and George Eliot has this beyond the majority of novelists. 
Among forms of connection of the actual world which Silas Marner 
interprets, are the bonds of the family, the relations of the church to 
the individual life, of one generation to the following ones, etc. The 
absolute value and significance of the family, for example, are clearly not 
found in mere sensual happiness, but in the moral development of its 
members. 



262 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

209. Theories of the Novel. — Many conceptions of what 
the novel is or should be are essentially conceptions of 
what all art is or should be, and embody the ideas just 
examined, or similar ones. Other theories endeavor to 
distinguish the novel from other forms of art, and belong 
under comparative aesthetics. Narrowing the field still 
more, are those theories which define the novel in relation 
to other forms of literature. (Comparative rhetoric.) 

Artists differ so much in the combination of creative and critical 
interest, it may well be that some of the masterpieces of fiction were 
produced without much attention to theory ; but, on the whole, the 
novelist has had the critical temper, and it is usually possible to discover 
what theory preceded, accompanied, or followed the creation of a great 
novel, in the mind of the author. 

The following brief summary of some important general 
conceptions of the novel is in part a review of previous state- 
ments. Each of these conceptions should be compared with 
the theories of art given in the preceding section. Other 
ideas about the general nature of the novel will be found 
in the glossary, under "novel," and in the notes on the 
history of novelistic criticism. 

1. The novel is not in a strict sense a determinate form 
of art — it has no " style " of its own — but is a mixture of 
various genres ', or a type still in the process of becoming. 
It obeys no "laws," and obedience to laws is a necessary 
sign of a true form of art. 

2. The above view is antagonistic ; but the same facts 
may be accepted with a favorable interpretation. The 
novel is the most comprehensive form of representative 
art that man has discovered ; and the most flexible in add- 
ing interpretation to exhibition. It is the true universal 
art ; and, in an ideal sense, the true composite art. 



GENERAL /ESTHETIC INTEREST 263 

3. The novel is an artistic response to the demands of 
modern individualism. 

(a) With reference to the author, the novel allows a 
more extended interpretation of experience, a more com- 
plete expression of ideals, a more adequate imagination of 
a satisfying life-history, than any other form of art. 

(b) With reference to the novel itself, the main subject 
is the individual life (especially the slow development of 
character under complex circumstances). 

(c) With reference to the reader, individuality is satis- 
fied in much the same general manner as in the author. 

4. The novel is sociological. It excels every other form 
of art in its power to represent social life, in response to 
social conditions, and in its appeal to the social sense. 
There are many sub-varieties of this conception ; based in 
part on different ideas as to just what " section of life " 
should be represented, and in just what manner. 

210. Judgment of a Novel. — Many persons consider that 
ability to enjoy a work of art is more desirable than ability 
to give a correct judgment of it. This view is specially 
frequent in reference to the novel. Another idea draws 
a somewhat sharp line between an inductive analysis of 
a work of art, pursued in a scientific spirit, and the old- 
fashioned criticism by means of preconceived standards. 1 

In the present volume, the endeavor has been to accept, in consider- 
able measure, the scientific spirit. All of the preceding study, if one 
wishes, may be considered as simply a preparation for higher ends — 
either of pleasure or of aesthetic judgment. To examine these ends 
systematically, so far as systematic treatment might be desired, would 
require another volume. A few paragraphs must here suffice to sug- 
gest a transition from the analytical to the judicial attitude. 

1 See Moulton's Introduction, Hennequin, and various criticisms of their 
views. 



264 THE STUDY OF A NOVEL 

Two methods of judging a novel might be called, with 
some degree of correctness, the quantitative and the quali- 
tative. The former method takes account of all varieties 
of excellence and defect, and judges in accordance with 
the resulting sum of values. The latter method selects 
some one master test, conceived as a sttmmum bonum for 
the novel, and the individual work is ranked high or low 
as it meets or fails to meet this test. The dogmatic critics 
accept the second method, though not agreeing among 
themselves as to what the single test should be. 

Again, one may attempt to judge the novelist, the novel 
itself, or the novel as it affects the reader. Judgment of 
the author may be based upon his character, his purpose, 
or the degree of success in attaining his purpose. It is a 
delicate matter often, in art as in life, to discover just what 
human purpose is, 1 and the critic may well note the appli- 
cation of the biblical "judge not" to his own special field. 
The judgment of a novel in itself may note only the inward 
relations of beauty, consistency, etc., or it may compare 
the presentation of the novel with the outside real world 
represented, directly or through fictitious imagery. Judg- 
ment of a novel by the effect it produces can never be 
entirely a judgment of the novel itself ; for its influence is 
never exerted without the cooperation of other influences. 

In all forms of judgment, if the critic has a clear theory 
of the novel, it will be brought to the front ; and many 
obscure theories often emerge from the darkness — theories 
of life as well as of art — so soon as he essays to give a 
final verdict upon a work produced by his fellow-man. 

1 See Mackenzie : Manual of Ethics; 3d ed., p. 136. 



APPENDIX 



I. SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF A NOVEL 

A more or less definite method of analysis is often implied in 
reviews or studies of fiction, without any announcement of it. 
Many critics, particularly those of impressionistic creed, object 
vigorously to detailed formal analysis. 

In the following examples the method is clearly stated by the 
critic. In some cases the general outline of analysis was planned 
for several types of literature, but in all it has been applied to the 
novel. In the present statement, only the main heads are given 
when there is much subdivision, and some alterations and ex- 
planations have been made, the most important being indicated 
by brackets. The purpose here is simply to suggest a compara- 
tive view, and the student should consult the originals. The ex- 
amples are arranged in chronological order. 

Compare analyses of epic and drama. See also some references 
in the Bibliography, and examine the introductions to novels 
edited for school purposes. For many technical terms, consult 
the Glossary. 

i. Fielding. (Prefaces to David Simple, Tom Thumb, Covent Garden 
Tragedy, and Joseph Andrews.) A plan for the " regular examination " of 
drama and novel. 

I. The Fable. — (II. The Action.) — III. Incident. — IV. The Char- 
acters. — V. The Sentiments. — (VI. The Moral.) — VII. Diction 
— which is the "lowest perfection in a writer and one which 
many of great genius seem to have little regarded." 
265 



266 APPENDIX 

2. Dunlop. (Chapter I.) " Points chiefly to be considered in a novel or 
romance." [Mainly for judicial criticism.] 

I. The Subject. (Story ; Nuda Materia.) 
II. The Disposition. [I.e., Narrative method.] 
III. The Ornaments ; of which the " most important " are : 

A. The Style. — B. The Characters. — C. The Sentiments. — 
D. The Descriptions. 

3. Masson. (Chapter I.) " Points for criticism in a novel." 

I. The Subject. (Scheme, idea, total meaning, aim, impression.) 
" The first or main matter of interest for the critic." Compare 
Section 119 of the present work. 
II. Incident. (Construction ; plot-interest.) 

III. Description. (Scenery.) 

IV. Characters. (By which " a novelist is chiefly judged.") 
V. Style, and other " obvious matters." 

VI. The Extra-poetical Contents. 

4. Hennequin. (Appendix ; applied to Victor Hugo.) Plan for a com- 
plete study of " Esthopsychologie." 

I. Analyse Esthetique. 

A. Les Moyens. 

1. Les Moyens Externes. 

(a) Vocabulaire. — (Jj) Syntaxe. — (c) Composition. — 
(d) Ton. — (e) Procedes de Description. (Deslieux 
et des gens ; des ames ; des idees abstraites.) 

2. Les Moyens Internes. (Sujets preferes.) 

(a) Epoques. — (b) Lieux. — (c) Moments. — (d) Person- 
nages (exterieur, interieur). — (e) Sujets abstraits. 

B. LesEffets. (Synthese des Moyens.) [Repetition of the above 

analysis, with reference to the effects.] 
II. Analyse Psychologique. 

A. Les Causes (in the individual author). 

1. Hypothese Explicative. 

2. Faits Expliques. 

2?. Interpretation Physiologique. 
III. Analyse Sociologique. 

A. Determination des categories d'admirateurs. 

B. Conclusions des livres speciaux aux categories speciales. 
IV. Conclusions generales. Syntheses. 



SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF A NOVEL 267 

5. Crawshaw. A general method for literary types, modified for the 
novel ; with detailed subdivisions, not given here. 

I. Study of the Form. 

A. Structure. 

B. Style. 

II. Study of the Substance. 

A. Beauty (and the unbeautiful) in characters, plot, etc. 

B, Ideality (including the "main ideal conception," and reality) 

in characters, plot, settings, etc. 

C, Emotion. 

D. Thought (including the "central thought"). 

6. Maigron. Without definite announcement of plan, his chief technical 
analysis is : I. Le Recit. — IL Les Personnages. — III. La Description. — 
IV. Le Dialogue. 

7. Riemann. (Analysis with reference to special types of fiction, or to 
Goethe individually, is here omitted.) 

I. Komposition. 

A. Gliederung. [/.*., " External structure."] 

B. Einsatze. 

C. [Intercalations.] 

1. Eingeschobene Icherzahlungen. 

2. Eingeschobene Briefe. 

D. Lyrische Einlagen. (Citate ; rhythmische Prosa ; lyrische Mo- 

nologe, etc.) 
II. Die Mittel der Charakteristik. 

A. Charaktergemalde und typische Gegemiberstellungen. 

B. Das Absinken der Charaktere. 

C. Charakterentwicklung. 

D. Physiognomik und Mimik. (Much subdivided.) 

8. The Present Volume. The underlying analysis in mind is as follows : — 

I. The Novel Itself. 
A. Form. 

I. Structure. 
(<z) External. 
(Jf) Combination of External and Internal — Consecutive 

Structure. 
(c) Internal. (Organic.) — Plot; Settings ; Dramatis Per- 
sons ; Characterization. 



268 APPENDIX 

2. Style. (Transitional to II., A, I and 2.) 

B. Subject-Matter. 
II. Relations of the Novel. 

A, Psychological and Social. 

1. The Process of Composition. ("Genetic Analysis.") 

2. The Shaping Forces. (" Dynamic Analysis.") 

3. The Influence of the Novel. (" Kinetic Analysis.") 

B. ^Esthetic. 

1. Other Types of Literature. 

2. The Individual Arts. 

3. Art in General. 

9. Current American Criticism. The following technical analysis may be 
said to be generally recognized, with many individual variations in details : — 

I. Form. — A. The Characters. — (j9. Characterization.) — C. Plot. 
(General analysis, and " details of narrative method.") — D. Set- 
tings. — E. Style. 
II. Subject-Matter. (With emphasis on the " central idea " ; often on 
" purpose,") 



II. GLOSSARY AND TOPICAL REFERENCES 

An adequate dictionary of literary criticism would fill several 
volumes, and would require the labor of many scholars for a 
series of years. 

The aim of the following pages is to distinguish in several cases 
different meanings of the same term ; to list some of the most 
precise terms, largely found in German criticism, as examples of 
technical analysis ; and to give references for the study of a few 
topics of special importance. Most of the authorities to which 
reference is made are noted in the Bibliography. "Types of 
Fiction " refers to the list in this Appendix. 

Most of the terms commonly found in the criticism of the novel 
are also found in the criticism of epic and drama. Many of them 
belong to a still wider field, and the student should consult not 
only rhetorics and poetics, but general aesthetics and the dictionaries 
of the separate arts. 

Allegorische Mimik. — (Riemann.) 

Allegory. — See Symbolism. 

Amplification — of Plot; — of Theme. 

Animalism. — For one definition see The Nation, Number 1618. Cf. Natu- 
ralism. 

Anticipation. — Cf. use in music. 

Anticipatory — Hint ; — Suspense. (Hammond.) 

Art, Absolute. — The novel is rarely so considered. See general aesthetics, 
dictionaries of music, etc. 

1'Art pour l'Art. — For application to the novel, see Gilbert, pp. 122, 
162 ; Lanson, p. 998 ; Warren, p. 220. 

Artist (in modern French sense). — See Brunetiere, R. N., p. 162. 

Artistic. — I. Contrasted with scientific. — 2. Referring to conscious method 
in the writer. — 3. "The word artistic as applied to fiction, denotes a structure 
that produces the most telling effect on the reader." (Cody.) 

Author's Comment. — Generalization and interpretation rather than mere 

269 



270 APPENDIX 

description. May sometimes be limited to passages in propria persona. 
See Chorus. 

Autobiographical. — i. In first-person form. — 2. With reference to the 
author. 

Avoidance. — Might be used as in musical analysis. 

Background. — 1. Of minor characters, incidents, emotions, etc. — 2. The 
settings. — 3. The place setting. See Scenery. 

Beleuchtungseffekt. — (Riemann.) 

Besserungstheorie. — The theory that a hero should be dismissed in the 
best condition possible for the individual plot. (Riemann.) 

Cadence. — Artistic approach to a conclusion ; as, chapter cadence, cadence 
of episode, etc. — Cf. use in music ; versification. 

Caricature. — See Baldwin; Morillot; Symonds. 

Catastrophe. — 1. Incident or event closing the dramatic line (preferable 
technical usage). — 2. Plot-conclusion marked by strong effect. See Climax 
and Conclusion. 

Catharsis, Aristotelian. — For a review of recent interpretations, see 
Baldwin. 

Central — Character ; — Idea ; — Incident ; — Theme ; — Truth; etc. 

Centrifugal — (Centripetal). — Mainly with reference to plot. 

Cervantine Humor. — Compared and contrasted with Rabelaisian Satire. 

Character (a type of literature). — See Morley. 

Character, Central. — Necessary for the short story, not for the novel. 
(Cody.) 

Character Compensation. — See Hedging. 

Character — Disclosure ; — Elucidation. (Hammond.) 

Character, Dismissal of. — See Riemann, on Absinken der Charaktere. 

Character Function. — Value as social type, in distinction from individual 
value. (Maigron, of Scott.) 

Character, Introduction of. — Technical definition in Davidson's Creative 
Art of Fiction. See also Dunlop, Bohn edition, I, p. 32. Cf. Personen, Ein- 
fiihrung der. 

Character, Isolation of, in short story. — (Barrett.) 

Characterization, Center of. — (MacClintock.) 

Characters, Interplay of. — (MacClintock.) 

Chorus, Greek dramatic. — Compared with author's comment. See Tom 
Jones, III, 7 ; preface to Sarah Fielding's The Cry ; and Worsfold. Cf. 
Maigron on the lyrical choruses in Atala. 

Climax. — 1. General rhetorical usage. — 2. The center of the dramatic 
line (preferable usage in technical analysis). — 3. The catastrophe. (Gardi- 
ner ; and many critics of the short story.) 



GLOSSARY AND TOPICAL REFERENCES 27 1 

Climax, — False or Technical ; — Preliminary. (Barrett.) 

Coincidence (in plot). 

Complication of Idea. — Governs length of story. (Cody.) 

Complication of Plot. — Contrasted with Resolution. Cf. also Denoument ; 
Entanglement. 

Composition. — For use in the sense of plastic power and unity in the 
structure, cf. music and painting. 

Comprehensiveness. — A common standard of judgment for the novel. See 
Totalitat. 

Conclusion. — Distinguished from Catastrophe. (Barrett.) 

Conclusion, Dramatic. — Equals Catastrophe. (Cody. ) 

Concreteness, Canon of. — (Gardiner.) Cf. Detaildarstellung. 

Convergence — of Characters; — of Narration and Action; — of Single 
Actions. 

Conversation. — See Dialogue. 

Counter-play. — 1. Of Characters (Simonds) ; cf. Interplay. — 2. In 
plot -analysis. See Play. 

Decoration. — See p. 266, Dunlop. Cf. Dekoration. (Riemann.) 

Degeneration, Social. — See Baldwin, Nordau, Robiati; and Taylor, on 
Greek romance. 

Denoument. (In English criticism.) — 1. The catastrophe. — 2. The entire 
fall of the action. Cf. Resolution. 

Description. — Sometimes about equivalent to Scenery, or place setting. 
For philosophical definition, see Baldwin. — " Fiction is essentially a descriptive 
art." (Cody.) 

Deus ex Machina. — See Baldwin. 

Dialog, — Alternierend-explizierend; — Alternierend-replizierend; — Theo- 
retisierend ; contrasted with Rede als Ausdruck des Affekts. (Riemann.) 

Dialogue — "is a description of conversation." (Cody.) 

Dialogue, — Characteristic ; — Descriptive ; — Dramatic ; — Reflective ; — 
Thematic. 

Didactic Interpolation. 

Disentanglement. — See Denoument. 

Disposition. — See p. 266, Dunlop. 

Dramatic. — 1. Objective, contrasted with lyrical. — 2. Intense, striking, in 
reference to action or feeling. See Types of Fiction. 

Dramatic — Effect ; — Form ; — Irony ; — Moment ; — Movement ; — Order 
of Thought, contrasted with Scenic Order (DeMille's Rhetoric); — Probabil- 
ity; — Situation. 

Dynamic Criticism (Analysis). — A convenient term in reference to the 
forces that influence a novel. Cf. Genetic ; Kinetic. 



272 APPENDIX 

Effectism. — Author's tendency to over-emphasize single effects. 

Effets, les. — See les Moyens. 

Emotions, Primary. — Contrasted with the complex emotions of civiliza- 
tion ; common in the naturalistic novel. See Baldwin, on Fear. 

Entanglement. — Contrasted with Denoument. 

Environment, — Immediate; — Remote. (Hammond.) For philosophical 
definition see Baldwin. 

Epic (adj.). — I. Narrative. — 2. Comprehensive and objective ; contrasted 
with lyrical. — 3. Having the special qualities of epic poetry; most commonly 
applied to historical romance. 

Epische — Darstellung ; — Stoff ; — Totalitat ; — Weltauff assung ; — Ge- 
setz der epischen Phantasie. 

Episode. — 1. Of an entire composition. ■ The novels of Henry James are 
all episodes.' — 2. Psychological meaning ; see Gardiner. — 3. A centrifugal 
narrative of some scope and marked unity. — 4. See Section ^. See also 
dictionaries of music. 

Episodes parasites. — (Brunetiere.) 

Erkennungsscene. — (Riemann.) 

Esthopsychologie. — Hennequin, mainly with reference to the effect of 
art : it might also refer to the creative process. 

Exciting (Inciting) Force. — (Erregende Moment, Freytag.) — The motiv- 
ating force which originates the plot-movement. 

Exposition. — 1. General rhetorical use. — 2. Explanation of action not 
directly given, as entr'acte exposition. 

Expositions Monolog ; — Scene. (Riemann.) 

Fable, The. — Often in eighteenth century criticism, e.g., Fielding, about 
equal to Plot. (German Fabel is still so used.) 

Fantasy, Touch of. — Especially in short story. See Matthews' Philos- 
ophy of the Short Story. 

Form. — Generally equals structure, or structure and style. Compare Bald- 
win, Bray, Perry, and Riemann's Dictionary of Music. — "Der Roman ist . . . 
zwar eine sehr mangelhafte Form, aber ein bestimmter und selbstandiger Aus- 
druck eines Stils." (Vischer.) 

Form, Geschichte der. — Contrasted with Stoffgeschichte. 

Frame. — 1. General structural outline. — 2. The environing action or set- 
tings for " frame-stories," such as the Decameron. 

Gedankenkreis. — Of the speech of characters. (Riemann.) 

Genetic Criticism (Analysis). — A convenient term applicable to the process 
of composition ; or to the development of the novel as a species. Cf. Dy- 
namic ; Kinetic. 

Gewohnheitsgesten. — (Riemann.) 



GLOSSARY AND TOPICAL REFERENCES 273 

Gothic. — 1. Of northern Europe, especially in the middle ages. — 2. Bar- 
barian ; romantic, as opposed to classical. Largely a term of reproach, in 
eighteenth century criticism. — See Bray; Phelps; Ruskin's Stones of Venice. 

Gothic Machinery. — See Machinery. 

Grands Genres, les. — Especially of tragedy, comedy and epic, " genres 
essentiellement classiques, appeles pour cette raison les grands genres." 
(Maigron.) — * The novel became a grand genre early in the nineteenth 
century.' (Lanson.) 

Grenzen des Romans, Die. — The comprehensiveness and amorphous qual- 
ity of the novel have led critics to special effort to define its limits. See, for 
example, Spielhagen's Technik des Romans ; Das Gebiet des Romans. 

Hedging. — In characterization, the principle of compensation. (Moulton.) 
This term might be applied also to incidents and settings. 

PHeroisme sentimental. — (Lanson.) 

Humor. — 1. A quality of style. See Leigh Hunt's Wit and Humor. 
— 2. Predominant and one-sided tendency of character; as in Novel of 
Humors. An early definition in Jonson's dialogic preface to Every Man 
out of his Humour. Cf. Riemann's treatment of Steckenpferd in Tristram 
Shandy, etc. See Traill. 

Hypernatural. — " In fiction ... a character must be exaggerated to ap- 
pear natural." (Quoted in Barrett.) 

Ideal. — Baldwin gives six meanings for the term as used in aesthetic 
criticism. See also Bray. 

Idealization, Monochromatic. 

I-Form. (Ich-Form.) — Contrasted with third-person form. (Er-form.) 

Impression. — " The novel gives a personal impression of life ; the drama 
a personal demonstration of life." (Lockwood and Emerson: Composition 
and Rhetoric.) — "A novel is, in the broadest definition, a personal impres- 
sion of life." (H. James : Art of Fiction.) 

Impression, Unity of. — A standard of excellence in the short story rather 
than the novel. (Matthews.) 

Impressionism. — See Brunetiere's R. N.; and criticism of painting. Bald- 
win gives Sterne as an example. 

Incident. — 1. See Section 31. — 2. The " event which supplies the motive 
for the action of the scene." (Simonds.) — 3. See Moulton. 

Indirekte Rede — als Einleitung der direkten; — als ordnendes Prinzip. 
(Riemann.) 

Inference (The Reader's). — Recognized as a definite principle of artistic 
effect. See, for example, Smith's Writing of the Short Story. 

Interplay of Characters. — Cf. Counter-play. 

Interweaving — of single actions into plot. 



274 APPENDIX 

Intrigue. — I. Of plot, as complicated design. — 2. Of character relations, 
as in " novel of intrigue." 

Invention. Creative power in the artist as distinct from observation. See 
Spielhagen's Technik der Romans ; Finder oder Erfinder. — Formerly used in 
a rather more technical sense than at present. 

Irony. — Perhaps a special characteristic of the novel. — I. A general 
quality of style. — 2. Dramatic Irony (cf. tragische Ironic). See Moulton. 
— 3. Detached attitude of the author in reference to his work. (Fr. Schlegel.) 

Isolated Scenes. 

Kinetic Criticism (Analysis). — Referring to the effect of a novel. Cf. 
Dynamic ; Genetic. 

Laws of Fiction, The. — Various attempts have been made to state them. 
See Section 129, Spielhagen on das Gesetz der Objektivitat ; and Novelistic 
Criticism, Gottsched. Also the discussion in Besant. — Maigron, however, 
gives an interesting explanation of the novel as an anarchistic form, craved by 
the romanticists, ' who hated law and Boileau.' (p. 152.) 

Leitmotiv. — See criticism of Wagner. Considered by Robiati, in refer- 
ence to Fogazzaro. 

Life-size. — Of the novel as compared with the short story. (Cody.) 

Link — Action ; — Personage. (Moulton.) 

Local Color. — " Couleur locale " used by Marchangy early in the nineteenth 
century. (Maigron.) — For application to ballet music, see Krebhiel's How 
to Listen to Music. 

Lyrical. — For many shades of meaning see poetics, aesthetics, etc. "Der 
Roman ist eine sehr universelle Gattung, und daher nach einer Seite hin auf 
dem Punkte ins Lyrische uberzugehen." (Solger.) — " Le lyrisme est Pexpres- 
sion du moi, et le roman doit 6tre la perception du non-moi." (Lanson, 
p. 1055.) 

Lyrische — Einschaltungen ; — Monologe. (Riemann.) Cf. Browning's 
dramatic monologue. 

Machinery. — Refers mainly to the motivation, especially when traditional, 
artificial, or obvious. An Aristotelian term, characteristic of eighteenth 
century criticism, but used by Dunlop, Scott, Senior, and Raleigh. 

Manner. — 1. Specific method; about equivalent to style. — 2. See Sec- 
tion 152. — 3. German Manier is about equivalent to Mannerism. 

Mannerism. — Two meanings are discussed at some length in Senior, p. 97 ff. 

Materia Nuda. — (Dunlop.) 

Medias Res, in. — In the novel, probably often imitated from the epic. 

Milieu IntSrieur. — (Brunetiere: R. N., p. 206.) 

Mimik. — Defined and considered at length in Riemann. 

Mistaken Identity. — As a type of plot. 



GLOSSARY AND TOPICAL REFERENCES 275 

MonolOg, — Expositions- ; — gedachter ; — gesprochener ; — Klammer-; — 
Reflexions- . ( Riemann. ) 

Moral. — See p. 265, Fielding. 

Morphology of the Novel. 

Motives (in characters), — Conflict of; — Ruling. 

Moyens, les. — See p. 266, Hennequin. 

Narrative Problem, The. — (Gardiner, p. 107.) 

Naturalism. — 1. Sometimes about equivalent to Realism, as opposed to 
Idealism and Romanticism. — 2. Extreme, usually pessimistic or debased, 
realism. — 3. Interpretation of human phenomena in biological terms. Cf. 
Animalism. — Distinguished from Realism in Baldwin. See Brandes; Bru- 
netiere ; Guyau ; Pardo Bazan ; Volkelt ; Zola. 

Naturism. — A term invented to denote the better elements in naturalism; 
but not in general use. 

Nemesis. — See Baldwin, and Moulton. 

Novel. — The following are probably the most important shades of meaning 
found in English criticism. — 1. Any type of prose fiction; e.g., as translation of 
novella (Elizabethan criticism). — 2. A long fiction, contrasted with short 
story. Cf. French and German Roman. — 3. Contrasted with Romance. 
This distinction was probably implied in Elizabethan criticism, was clearly 
stated by Congreve, in 1692 (see Raleigh, p. 101), and by many eighteenth 
century writers; but is not always observed even now. — 4. The mature " mod- 
ern novel," i.e., that since Richardson. " With due respect to the writers of 
fiction from the sixteenth century down to Defoe and Marivaux, it was in the 
year 1740 that the European novel, as we understand it, began to exist." 
(Gosse : Modern English Literature, p. 240.) — 5. The realistic novel of con- 
temporary life. — 6. Special historical usage, an example of which is given in 
Cross, p. 21. 

A few suggestive attempts at concise definition may be quoted : — 

" A fictitious narrative, differing from the romance, because the events are 
accommodated to the ordinary train of human events, and the modern state 
of society." (Scott : Essay on Romance.) 

" Le recit developpe d'une action vraie ou imaginaire, historique ou non, oii 
les evenements marchent avec ordre vers un but determine, et ou les carac- 
teres, bien que vivants et naturels et quoique plus voisins de la realite que dans 
tout autre genre de poesie, sont agrandis neanmoins par l'ideal et par le 
style." (Leveque.) 

" The modern novel is a drama ; description holds the place of scenery ; 
narration gives a clue to the mise-en-scene ; but it is the talk which consti- 
tutes the main substance and texture of the work." (Edmond Scherer: 
Essays on English Literature ; translated by Saintsbury.) 



276 APPENDIX 

"A novel is a fictitious story of some complexity of plot, purporting to 
be modeled after real life, and portraying the working of some great 
passion, often that of love." (Lockwood and Emerson: Composition and 
Rhetoric.) 

Cf. Roman, novella, etc. See Romance. 

Ornaments. — See p. 266, Dunlop. 

Parabasis. — Parabatische — Einsatz ; — Schlusswendung. (Riemann.) 

Parallelgeschichte. — (Riemann.) 

Pause (in the plot-movement). 

Personen, Einf tinning der, — dramatische; — durch die Gruppe; — durch 
Erwahnung. (Riemann.) Cf. Character, Introduction of. 

Picaresque. — 1. Strictly, of the " rogue novel." — 2. Broadly, having the 
general characteristics of that type — loose, episodic plot, variety of adven- 
ture, etc. 

Play. — In the analysis of plot, the aggressive activity of the hero; opposed 
to Counter-play, in which he is acted upon. (Freytag.) 

Plot. — 1. The unified plan of the action. — 2. The unified plan of the 
entire composition. — 3. Of a specially intricate action. — 4. In a hostile sense, 
in reference to the artificial or sensational element. 

Plot — Amplification (Hammond) ; — Architecture (Raleigh) ; — Business 
(Baker) ; — Germ ; — Scene ; etc. 

Plot, — By- (Raleigh) ; — Multiple (Hammond) ; — Separable ; — True; 
— Working (Barrett). 

Poetik. — Generally includes imaginative prose, therefore the novel; as 
contrasted with English poetics. Cf. Prosaics. 

Probability, Dramatic. 

Prosaics. — (Gayley and Scott, p. 245.) 

Psychologist's Fallacy. — Common in the novel. See Baldwin, and W. 
James. 

Purpose. — Frequently used as a semi-technical term in analysis. 

Rabelaisian Satire. — See Cervantine Humor. 

Rationalization ; — Derationalization. — See Moulton. 

Realism. — Commonly contrasted with Romanticism ; but they have much 
in common, especially as compared with Classicism. A term discussed in 
nearly every recent criticism of the novel. For wider meanings see aesthetics, 
poetics, etc. — See Naturalism; Veritism. 

Realism, Higher. 

RSalisme sentimental. — (Brunetiere, R. N.) 

Relief Scene ; — in Relief. 

Reminiscence (narrative). — Cf. dictionaries of music. 

Reminiscence (psychological). — See Brunetiere, R. N., p. 174. 



GLOSSARY AND TOPICAL REFERENCES 277 

Resolution (of plot). — See Denoument. — Further Resolution. See 
Moulton. 

Reticence. — Is characteristic of artistic fiction. (Besant.) 

Romance. — 1. In general sense. Distinguished, as natural and permanent, 
from Romanticism, as artificial and temporary, in Matthews' Historical Novel. — 
2. Contrasted with novel. Congreve's definition is given in Raleigh, p. 101. 
A famous definition is found in Johnson's Dictionary ; a very suggestive one 
in the preface to The House of the Seven Gables. See Novel. 

Romantic. — See Bray, Baldwin, Phelps; dictionaries of music and other 
arts. — Four shades of meaning are given in Stoddard, p. 124. — Cf. definitions 
in eighteenth century criticism. 

Romanticism. — 1. General aesthetic meaning. — 2. Historical meaning, 
referring to the romantic school, which is characterized in all histories of fic- 
tion covering the period. Gilbert gives as a summary of the school in French 
fiction : sensibility, personality, lyricism, and pessimism (p. 117; cf. pp. 75, 76). 
See Brunetiere; Haym; Maigron. 

Ruhige Darstellung. — As an ideal for the novel. (Jeitteles ; Ludwig.) 

Scenery. — 1. In dramaturgic sense, of material background. — 2. "All the 
peculiarity, material and moral, which gives a general character to the events " ; 
Greek chorus included. (Senior, p. 190.) 

Scene, The. — General place setting. 

Sc§ne, en, — 'Everything in Scott is.' (Maigron.) 

Scenes, — Isolated ; — Plot. 

Scdnes a faire. — In the drama. (Francisque Sarcey; explained in Mat- 
thews' Development of the Drama, p. 24 and/a^.) 

Scenic — Characters (contrasted with Individual, Senior, p. 191); — Order 
of Thought. See Dramatic Order of Thought. 

Sensitivists, the contemporary Dutch. — See Gosse's introduction to 
English translation of Couperus' Eline Vere, N.Y., 1892. 

Sentimental School. — See Novelistic Criticism : Clara Reeve ; Coleridge ; 
and Karamzin. 

Sentiments. — In analysis, the general ideas expressed in a novel. See 
p. 265, Fielding. 

Short Story. — For theory and technic see especially Barrett, Canby, Cody, 
Heyse, Matthews, Nettleton, Perry, L. W. Smith, and Spielhagen's essays, 
Novelle oder Roman, and Roman oder Novelle. 

Silhouette, en. — (Lanson, of the characters in Notre Dame de Paris.) 

Simplicity (in ^Esthetics). — See Baldwin. 

Simplification, Artificial. — (Gardiner.) 

Situation. — 1. The dramatic element in a scene. — 2. Circumstances at the 
beginning of plot. (Simonds.) — 3. See Section 30. 



278 APPENDIX 

Solidity — of Life (Gardiner) ; — of Specification. See Vraisemblance. 

Solution (of plot). — Cf. Denoument; — Catastrophe. 

Soul of the Story.— (Cody.) 

Story. — 1. A novel as a whole. See Types of Fiction. — 2. That ele- 
ment in a novel which satisfies story interest. — 3. See Section 45. — 4. The 
entire body of artistic (especially fictitious) narrative in the world. 

Stummes Spiel. — At the close of a novel. (Riemann.) 

Suspense, Final. — Located just before the final resolution. Common in 
well-constructed plots. — See Freytag ; Moulton ; Perry. 

Symbolism. — 1. General aesthetic meaning. Sometimes distinguished 
from Allegory ; the former having more value in the concrete imagery, the 
latter in the abstract ideas. See Baldwin. — 2. Of a contemporary school in 
poetry and fiction. See Brunetiere. 

Theme, — Abstract ; — Central ; — Concrete ; — Main; — Sub-. — (Cf. 
dictionaries of music.) 

Thematic — Character ; — Dialogue ; — Incident ; etc. Having more value 
as subject-matter than as serving the illusion. 

Topographischer Einsatz. — (Riemann.) 

Totalitat, — Epische, as canon of the novel (Spielhagen and other critics) ; 

— des Weltbildes ; — False and True distinguished (Riemann, p. 324). — Cf. 
Comprehensiveness. 

Tragic Moment. — A sudden, unexpected, but completely motived turn in 
events, soon after the climax, at which the fall of the action really begins. 
(Freytag.) 

Transparency, Device of. — See Matthews' Historical Novel, p. 157 ff. 

Truth. — Often distinguished from fact. See Baldwin. Cf. Veritism. 

Type (in Art). — See Baldwin, Perry, Senior, p. 289, and V6ron. 

Type acheve' du Genre. — None exists for the novel, as the Iliad does 
for the epic. (Lev8que.) 

Veritism. — Fidelity to truth rather than fact. A term suggested by the 
hostile critical attitude toward "realism." See Rod, Etudes sur le XIX e 
Siecle, Les Veristes Italiens; and Garland. 

Verkleidungsscene. — (Riemann.) 

Vraisemblance. — " II faut que dans les Romans bien faits la vraisemblance 
soit partout et soit meme partout maitresse." (Mad. de Scudery : Clelie, 1661.) 

— "The air of reality (solidity of specification) seems to me the supreme 
virtue of a novel. , ' (H. James : Art of Fiction.) 

Zimmerverwechslungsmotiv. — (Riemann.) 



III. TYPES OF PROSE FICTION 

No attempt has been made in this volume to consider the 
difficult problem of classification. In his once famous Rhetoric 
(1783), Blair affirmed that literary species e shade into one another 
like the colors of nature.' The following list will indicate that 
certain novelistic types are well-established in European criticism, 
and that many others, of various degrees of historical and tech- 
nical isolation, are distinguished by individual critics. While the 
list is far from complete, it is sufficient to show the variety of 
bases on which classification or description is attempted. With 
very few exceptions, the terms have been taken from critics of 
some note, but authority has been quoted only in a few cases, for 
special reasons. 

The student of comparative literature may, perhaps, be inter- 
ested in comparing the general tone of several national schools 
of criticism — in examining the contrast, for example, between 
the accurate but cumbersome German terminology and the less 
technical but more lucid manner of the French critics. The 
student of comparative aesthetics will find some of the broader 
terms, or similar ones, in dictionaries of music and painting. 
Many are borrowed from dramatic criticism, and others were 
originally found in the field of the epic. 

The following abbreviations are used : " N ", for novel; " R ", for romance, 
roman and romanzo ; "T. T.", for type-title (see Section 5). The figures 
after the terms are for cross-reference, and suggest a much more elaborate 
study of shading, contrast, and systematic arrangement. 

ENGLISH 



1. Action, N. of. 13, 66, 151. 

2. Adventure, N. of; R. of. — Adven- 

tures. (T. T.) 

3. Allegorical — N. ; — R. 217. 



4. Amatory Narrative. (Dunlop.) 

5. Analytic (Analytical) N. 

6. Annals. (T. T.) 

7. Antiquarian R. (Baker.) 



279 



280 



APPENDIX 



8. Archaeological N. 

9. Art and Culture N. (Masson) ; 

Art-R. (Carlyle, of Heinrich von 
Ofterdingen.) 277. 

10. Autobiographical — N ; — R. 68. 

11. Biographical N. 

12. Burlesque — Fantasy ; — Picaroon. 

(Baker.) 

13. Character, — and Passion, — N. of; 

Character Study, i, 101, 107. 

14. Chivalry, R. of. 92. 

15. Chronicles. (T. T.) 

16. Civilian R. (Dunlop.) 

17. Classical Heroic R. 55. 

18. Comedy, — of Accidents ; — Domes- 

tic ; — Love ; — Low ; — of Man- 
ners ; — in Narrative ; — Poetic ; 
— Psychological; — Social. (Most 
of these, and other similar terms, 
in Baker.) 

19. Comic — Epic ; — N ; — R. 

20. Cosmopolitan N. 70. 

21. Crime, N. of; Criminal N. 98. 

22. Descriptive N. 

23. Detective Story. 

24. Dialect Story. 

25. Dialogue, N. in ; Dialogues. 

(T. T.) 

26. Didactic N. 

27. Discursive N. 

28. Doctrinal (Doctrinaire) N. 

29. Domestic — Comedy ; — N ; —Satire, 

N. of. 

30. Drama, — Complete ; — Psychologi- 

cal ; — Tragic. 

31. Dramatic — Effect, Story of; — 

Form, Story of (Barrett) ; — Nar- 
rative ; — Sketch ; — Story ; — Tale. 

295- 

32. Eastern Tale. (Goldsmith.) 95. 

33. Eclogue. 

34. Elevated Fiction. (Senior, con- 

trasted with Familiar.) 

35. Epic, — Comic; — Pastoral ; — Prose. 

36. Episodes. (T. T.) 

37. Epistolary — N ; — R. 

38. Epoch, N. of an. 341. 

39. Erotic Adventure, N. of (Warren, 

of Greek Romances) ; Lyrico- 
Erotic N. 



40. Ethical N. 

41. Extravaganza (Extravagance). 

(Baker.) 

42. Fables. (T. T.) 

43. Fairy — R ; — Tale ; — Story. 

44. Familiar — N ; — Fiction. (Senior, 

contrasted with Elevated.) 

45. Family R. 

46. Fancy, N. of. (Tuckerman.) 

47. Fantastic Tale (Barrett) ; Fantasy. 

48. Fashionable — N;— Tale. 284. 

49. Folk-Story. 

50. Genre Picture. (Baker.) 

51. Ghost Story. 

52. Gothic R ; — of Mystery and Terror. 

80, 139. 

53. Grotesque and Arabesque, Tales of 

the (Poe). 

54. Hero, N. without a (Thackeray) . 

55. Heroic R. 17. 

56. Historical — N; — R; — Tale;— N., 

True ;— Background, N. with. 
(Matthews distinguishes the last 
two.) 

57. Historico-Political N. (Fitzmaurice- 

Kelly.) 

58. History of. (T.T.) (See Section 5.) 

59. Horror, Study in. (Barrett.) 319. 

60. Humanitarian N. (Cross, of Oroo- 

noko.) 102, 190. 

61 . Humorous — N ; — Story. 

62. Humors, N. of. (Traill," contrasted 

with N. of Manners.) 

63. Idyll, — Prose; — Rural; — Senti- 

mental. 

64. Imaginative — R ; — Tale. 

65. Impressionistic N. 

66. Incident, — and Action, — N. of. 1. 

67. Ingenuity, Story of. (Barrett, as 

type of Short Story.) 

68. I-Novel. 10. 

69. Intellectual N. (Bulwer Lytton.) 

183. 

70. International N. (Cross; "created 

by Maria Edgeworth.") 20, 144. 

71. Intrigue and Gallantry, R. of. (W. 

Hazlitt.) 160, 348. 

72. Key, N. with a. 

73. Knavery, R. of. 104, 119, 320. 

74. Letters, N. of. 



TYPES OF PROSE FICTION 



28l 



75. Life — of;— and Adventures of. 

(T. T.) 

76. Life, — and Manners, — N. of 

(" typical form of prose fiction ") ; 

— and Passion, N. of. 96. 

jj. Local — Fiction ; — N ; — Short 
Story ; — History. 

78. Love — Comedy; — Drama; — Idyll; 

— N ;— Pamphlet {e.g., Greene) ; 

— R ; — Story ; — Tale. 

79. Manners, — Comedy of; — N. of. 

80. Marvel and Mystery, R. of. 52. 

81. Melodrama; Melodramatic R. 

(Baker.) 

82. Memoirs. (T. T.) 

83. Metaphysical N. 103. 

84. Military N. 

85. Mock R. (including Comic; Hu- 

morous ; Satirical ; T. Arnold) ; 
Mock-heroic R. {e.g., Hallam) . 

86. Modern Life and Society, N. of. 

(Traill.) 285. 

87. Moral — Story ; — Story with a. 

88. Mystery,— N. of; — R. of. 

89. Narrative. (T. T.) 

90. Naturalistic N. 

91. Nautical R; Naval N. (Masson.) 

92. Necromancy and Chivalry, R. of. 

(W. Hazlitt.) 14, 340. 

93. Novel. 

94. Novelette. 

95. Oriental — History (Goldsmith) ; 

— N; — R. 32. 

96. Passion, N. of. 76. 

97. Pastoral — Comedy ; — Epic ; — 

Idyll; — N; — R. 

98. Pathological N. 21. 

99. Peasant Tale. 

100. Pedagogic R. (Cross.) 

101. Personality, N. of. (Stoddard.) 

13- 

102. Philanthropical N. 60, 190. 

103. Philosophical — Fable ; — N ; — R. 

83. 

104. Picaresque — N ; — R ; Picaroon 

N. 73- 

105. Picturesque N. (Bulwer Lytton.) 

106. Pictures. (T. T.) 

107. Plot-Novel ; N. of Plot. 13, 

33o. 



108. Poetical R; Poetic Comedy. 

109. Political N. 
no. Popular Tale. 
in. Problem N. 

112. Propagandist N. (Baker.) 130. 

113. Prose — Epic; — Poem {e.g., Dow- 

den, of Atala) ; — R. (Dunlop, 
Scott, etc.) 

114. Psychological — Comedy; — Drama; 

— N;— R. 

115. Purpose, N. of. 

116. Realistic N. 

117. Religious — N ; — R. 

118. Revolutionary N. (Masson.) 

119. Rogue N ; R. of Roguery. 73. 

120. Romance. 

121. Romantic Love, R. of. (Lewis.) 

122. Satirical — Fiction ; — N. 

123. Scenes (T.T.) ; Fiction of Scenery. 

(Senior.) 

124. Scientific Experiment, Tale of. 

(MacClintock) ; Scientific N. 

125. Sensation N. (Baker.) 

126. Sentimental N. 

127. Serious R. (Scott.) 

128. Short— N;— Story; Long Short- 

Story. 

129. Sketches. (T.T.) 

130. Socialist N. 112, 289. 

131. Social — Comedy; — N ; — R; — 

Study ; Society N. 

132. Spiritual R. (Hallam; Scott, con- 

trasted with Temporal R.) 

133. Sporting N. 

134. Story. (Common in titles.) 

135. Study. (As a type of short story, 

frequently.) 

136. Supernatural Phantasy, N. of. 

(Masson.) 

137. Tale. 

138. Temporal R. 

with Spiritual R.) 

139. Terror, Gothic Tale of. 

140. Theological N. 

141. Third-Person N. 

142. Tragic — Drama; — N;- 

Tragi-Comedy. 

143. Traveller's N. (Masson.) 

144. Ubiquitous N. (Walter Bagehot.) 

70. 



(Scott, contrasted 



52. 



- Pastoral ; 



282 



APPENDIX 



145. Utopian — N; — R. 

146. Vision. 

147 . Volume N , — Single ; — Three. 



148. Weird Story. (Barrett.) 

149. Wonder, Story of. (Barrett.) 

150. Yarn. 





FRENCH 


151. 


Active, R. de la Vie. (Jusserand.) 


187. 


Lyrique, R. (Lanson, of George 




1. 




Sand.) 


152. 


Amour, R. d'. 


188. 


Memoires. (T. T.) 


153- 


Analytique, R; R. d'Analyse — 


189. 


Militaires, R. de Moeurs. 




intellectuelle ; — morale. 


190. 


Misanthropique, R. (of Flaubert). 


154. 


Arcadien, R. (Jusserand.) 200. 




102. 


155. 


Archeologique, R. (Lanson, of 


191. 


Mceurs, R. de. 




Salammbd.) 


192. 


Mondain, R. 


156. 


Autobiographique, R. 


193. 


Morale, R. d'Analyse. 


157- 


Aventure, — Conte d' ; — R. d' ; 


194. 


Nationaux, R's. (Erckmann-Cha- 




Aventures. (T. T.) 




trian.) 


158. 


Bourgeois, R. 


195- 


Naturaliste, R. 


159. 


Burlesque, R. 


196. 


Nocturne, Conte (title used by 


160. 


Cape et d'Epee, R. de. 71. 




Hoffman). 


161. 


ChampStre, R. 


197. 


Nouvelle. 


162. 


Chevaleresque, R. 


198. 


Oriental, R. 


163. 


Chretien, honn&te et familier, R. 


199. 


Pastel. 




(Gilbert.) 


200. 


Pastoral, R. 154. 


164. 


Clef, R. a. 


201. 


Personnel, — impersonnel, Recit. 


165. 


Coeur, R. de. 


202. 


Philosophique, R. 


166. 


Comique, R. 


203. 


Picaresque, R. 


167. 


Conte. 


204. 


Plaisant, Conte. 


168. 


Devot, Conte. 


205. 


Poetique, R. (Lanson.) 


169. 


Epique, R. (Maigron; Jusserand) ; 


206. 


Politique, R. 




Epopee-roman (Jusserand). 


207. 


Psychologique, R. 


170. 


Exotique, R. (Gilbert.) 334. 


208. 


Realiste, R. 


171. 


Experimental, R. (Zola.) 


209. 


Roman. 


172. 


Fabliau. 


210. 


Romantique, R. 


173- 


Famille, R. de. 


211. 


Rustique, R. 


174. 


Fantaisiste, R. 


212. 


Satirique, R. 


175. 


Fees, Conte de. 


213. 


Scenes. (T. T.) 


176. 


Feuilleton, R. 


214. 


Scientifique, R. 


177. 


Gothique, R. 


215. 


Sentimental, — et personnel, R. 


178. 


Heroi'que, R. 




(Lanson ; Gilbert) ; R. d'Analyse 


179. 


Historique, R; Histoire. (T. T.) 




des Sentiments. (Jusserand.) 


180. 


Humoristique, R. 


216. 


Social, R. 


181. 


Idylle. 


217. 


Symboliste et occulte, R. (Gil- 


182. 


Impressioniste, R. 




bert.) 3. 


183. 


Intellectuelle, R. d'Analyse. 69. 


218. 


Tendance, R. a. 


184. 


Intrigue, R. d\ 


219. 


Tiroirs, R. a. 


185. 


Lettres, R. par. 


220. 


Utopiste, R. 


186. 


Longue Haleine, R. a (of Heroic 


221. 


Voyage Imaginaire. 297. 




Romance) . 


222. 


Voyage, R. de. 



TYPES OF PROSE FICTION 



283 



GERMAN 



223. Abenteuer ; — roman ; — und trans- 

oceanischer R. 

224. Allegorischer R. 

225. Anekdotenroman. 

226. Aristokratischer R. (Vischer.) 

227. Autobiographischer R. 265, 323. 

228. Backfischroman. 

229. Bauern — novelle; — roman. 

230. Bettlerroman. 

231. Bildungsroman. 276. 

232. Briefroman ; R. in Briefen. 

233. Biirgerlicher R. 

234. Buriesker R. 

235. Charakterroman. 

236. Dialogroman. (Riemann.) 

237. Didaktischer R. 

238. Dorfgeschichte. 

239. Eklektischer R. (Jeitteles.) 

240. Emanzipationsroman. 309. 

241. Ernster R. (Vischer, Aesthetik; 

Jeitteles.) 

242. Erotischer R. 

243. Er-Roman. 

244. Erzahlung. 

245. Ethnographischer R. 

246. Familienroman. 

247. Feengeschichte. 

248. Feuilletonistischer R. 342. 

249. Frauenroman. (Mielke.) 

250. Gedicht-geschichte. (Birken, in 

1679.) 

251. Geisterroman. 

252. Geistlicher R. 

253. Geographischer R. 

254. Geschichtlicher R. 

255. Gesellschaftsroman. (Mielke.) 327. 

256. Gespensternovelle. 

257. Heldenroman. 

258. Heroisch-galanter R. 

259. Herzgeschichte. (Spielhagen.) 

260. Hintertreppenroman. 

261. Hirtenroman. 

262. Historischer R; halbhistorischer 

R. 

263. Humanistischer R. 

264. Humoristischer R. 



265. Ich. — Erzahlung ; — R ; — Brief- 

roman. (Riemann.) 227. 

266. Idealroman. (Korting.) 
Idylle; Idyllischer R. (W. Sche- 

rer.) 

Judenroman. 

Jugendroman. 

Kinder- und Hausmarchen. 

Kolportageroman. 

Komischer R. 

Komodiantenroman. (Riemann, 
of Roman Comique.) 

Kosmopolitischer R. 

Kriminal — geschichte ; — roman ; 
— anthropologischer R. 

Kultur — roman ; — geschichtliche 
Novelle. 231. 

Kunstroman; Kunstlerroman. 9. 

Landschaftsroman. (Mielke.) 

Legende. 

Leidenschaftsroman. (Riemann.) 

Liebes — roman ; — historic (Jeit- 
teles.) 

Liigenroman. 

Marchen. 

Mode-Roman. (A. W. von Schle- 
gel, 1798.) 48. 

Moderner R. (Spielhagen, in defi- 
nite sense, contrasted with his- 
torical novel.) 86. 

286. Moralischer R. 

287. Musikernovelle. 

288. Naturalistischer R. 

289. Nihilistischer R. 130. 

290. Novelle; Novelette. 

291. Objektive Erzahlung. (Spielhagen.) 

292. Opposition, R. der. (Korting.) 

293. Orientalischer R. 

294. Padagogischer R. 

295. Pantomimischer R. (Riemann.) 

296. 



267. 



269. 
270. 
271. 
272. 

273- 

274. 
275- 

276. 

277. 
278. 
279. 
280. 
281. 

282. 
283. 
284. 

285. 



297. 



3i- 

Pastoralroman ; 
(Korting, of 
gant.) 318. 

Phantastischer— 
(Korting.) 



Antipastorale. 
Berger Extrava- 

— R ; — Reiseroman. 
221. 



284 



APPENDIX 



298. Philosophischer R. 

299. Politischer R. 329. 

300. Pornographischer R. 

301. Problemroman, — moralphiloso- 

phischer. 

302. Professorenroman. 

303 . Psychologischer — R ; — Situations- 

roman. 

304. Rahmenerzahlung. 

305. Rauberroman. 

306. Realistischer R ; Realroman. (Kor- 

ting.) 

307. Reise — fabulistik (Rohde) ; — 

feuilleton ; — roman. 

308. Religioser R. 

309. Revolution, R. der. (Mielke.) 

240. 

310. Ritter — geschichte ; — roman ; — 

und Rauberroman. 

311. Robinsonade. 

312. Roman. 

313. Romanskizze. (Spielhagen.) 

314. Romantische Novelle. 

315. Romerroman. (Mielke.) 

316. Sagen — geschichte ; — und Ritter- 

roman. 

317. Satirischer R. 

318. Schaferroman. 296. 

319. Schauer — licher R (Jeitteles, of 

Mrs. Radcliffe) ; — roman. 59. 



320. 
321. 
322. 
323- 

324. 
325- 

326. 



327. 
328. 
329- 
330. 
33i. 
332. 
333- 
334. 

335- 
336. 
337- 
338. 

339- 
340. 
34i- 

342. 



Schelmenroman. 73. 
Schwank. 
Seeroman. 

Selbst — biographischer R ; — bio- 
graphic 227. 
Sensationsroman . 
Sentimentaler R ; Sentimentalists- 

roman. 
Sitten — gemalde ; — roman ; — und 

Familienroman. (Jeitteles, of 

Richardson.) 
Socialer R. 255. 
Soldatenroman. 

Staatsroman. (Riemann.) 299. 
Stoffroman. 107. 
Tendenzroman ; Tendenzioser R. 
Theaternovelle. 
Theologischer R. 
Trans — atlantischer R ; — ocean- 

ischer R, Abenteuer- und. 170. 
Umwandlungsroman. 
Unterhaltungsroman. 
Vaterlandischer R. 
Volks — buch; — marchen; — 

roman ; volkstumlicher R. 
Wundermarchen. 
Zauberroman. (Hildebrand.) 92. 
Zeit — geschichtlicher R ; — roman. 

(Mielke.) 38. 
Zeitungsroman. (Mielke.) 248. 



ITALIAN AND SPANISH 



343. 


Amatoria, Novela; R. d* Amore; 


356. 




Historia amorosa. 




344. 


Analitico, R. 


357- 


345. 


Brevo, Racconto. 


358. 


346. 


Caballeria, — Novela de ; — Libro 


359- 




de ; R. di Cavalleria. 


360. 


347. 


Campagnuol (a ; 0) , Novella ; Rac- 


361. 




conto. 


362. 


348. 


Capa y Espada, Novela de. 71. 


363- 


349. 


Comico, R. 


364 


350. 


Corta, Novella. 


365. 


351. 


Cuadros. (T. T.) 


366 


352. 


Cuento. 


367 


353. 


Exemplares, Novelas. (Cervantes.) 




354. 


Fabula. 


368 


355. 


Fantasia. 


369 



Historia; Novela Historica; His- 

torieta; Historion. 
Idilio; Idillio. 
Impressionisto, R. 
Intimo, R. 
Istoria ; R. Istorico. 
Legendario; Leggenda; Leyenda. 
Naturalista, R. 
Novela. 
Novella. 

Obiettivo, R. (Robiati.) 381. 
Pastello. 
Pastorale, R; Novela Pastoral; 

Pastorela. 
Patrafia. 
Picaresco, R ; Novela Picaresca. 



TYPES OF PROSE FICTION 



285 



370. Politico, R. 

371. Popolare, Racconto; Popular, 

Libro; Narration. 

372. Psicologico, R. 

373. Racconto. 

374. Realisto, R. 

375. Relation. 



376. Romanzo. 

377. Rusticana, Novella. 

378. Satirico, R. 

379. Smtetico-obiettivo, R. (Robiati.) 

380. Storia; Storiella; Storietta. 

381. Subiettivo, R. (Robiati.) 365. 

382. Suefios. (T. T.) 



III. NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC 

CRITICISM 

No volume devoted to this subject has appeared, so far as the 
present writer is aware. The following works are helpful, as giving 
the general background of the development of criticism, or as con- 
taining specific reference to the novel. (Works not identified in 
these Notes will be found listed in the Bibliography.) 

BrunetiSre : Involution de la Critique. Roman Naturaliste. — Borinski. — 
Braitmaier. — Dunlop. See the extended, though poorly arranged 
bibliography prefixed to the text. (Bohn edition.) — Gayley and Scott. 

— Hamelius : Die Kritik in der englischen Litteratur des I7ten und 
i8ten Jahrhunderts. (Leipzig, 1897.) — Haym. — Korting. — Mai- 
gron. — Moulton : Library of Literary Criticism. — Raleigh. — Rie- 
mann. — Rocafort. — Saintsbury : History of Literary Criticism. 
(Referred to as "S" in the following pages.) — Spingarn : History 
of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance. (N.Y., 1899.) — Warren. 

— Wylie : Evolution of English Criticism. (Boston, 1894.) 

The following notes are a slight introduction to a vast field. — 
Criticism of immediate interest to the student of the novel is found 
in works on the general history of literature, in aesthetics, in works 
on the epic and drama, etc., etc. Indexes to periodical literature 
show an accumulation of material it would take years to assimilate. 
Much of the best criticism is found in biographies of the novelists. 

It may be noted that the novel itself has often been a mode of 
criticism, since the beginning. Kastner and Atkins say of Anatole 
France, " The critical spirit pervades the whole of his thought, 
so much so that his novels are almost as much of criticism as 
romance." Individual novels, especially parodies, are frequently 
criticisms of other novels, or schools of novelists. 

286 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 287 

GR^ECO-ROMAN PERIOD 

Aristotle. — The Poetics influenced the theory of the novel, to some extent, 
in the Renaissance and the 18th century. Cf. S., II., p. 58. 

Plato. — Use and exposition of didactic allegory. — His treatment of the social 
effect of fiction influenced Renaissance defenses of poetry. 

The romances themselves were the product of a critical spirit. See also 
Dunlop, I., pp.36; 96; 105. 

THE MIDDLE AGES — TO 1400 

"From the 5th to the 15th century . . . humanity was obliged to do 
as well as it could without the solace of novels." (Warren.) — " The 
Middle Ages were not critical." (S.) 

Defense of realism in Boccaccio, Chaucer, etc. 

Religious application of fiction, as in the Gesta Romanorum. 

Critical consciousness in the saga and verse romance. On the 
relations of epic and romance, see Ker, and Saintsbury's Flourish- 
ing of Romance. 

Eustathius. — Hysmenia and Hysmene. A caricature of Tatius. (Rohde- 
Dunlop.) 

Photius. — Myriobiblion. (9th century.) Abridgments and fragmentary criti- 
cisms of Greek and Latin romances. (Dunlop.) 

THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 

Caxton. — Critical work as editor, translator, expositor, and defender of ro- 
mance. His preface to Morte d' Arthur is "memorable as marking the 
beginning of prose fiction." (Raleigh.) 

Martorell. — Tirante el Blanco, (cir. 1450.) Is a " predecessor of Don 
Quixote and ... no less a parody on the genuine romances of chiv- 
alry." (Warren.) 

Sannazaro. — Arcadia. On its critical significance, see Garnett, and Warren. 

THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 

The numerous critical treatises scarcely touched prose fiction, 
though discussing many matters related to it, such as the use of 
vernacular, epic theory and technic, allegory, etc. 



288 APPENDIX 

Pastoral romance continued to represent classical scholarship 
and artistic motive. 

Picaresque fiction was a critical as well as creative reaction from 
the older romance spirit. 

ENGLISH 

" A singular scorn for the older romances is displayed by the men of 
the later 16th century." (Raleigh.) 

Ascham. — The Schoolmaster. Severe criticism, from a Protestant and Eng- 
lish point of view, of Morte d' Arthur, and the Italian novelle. See below, 
1 8th century, English, Warton. 

Lyly. — The Euphues embodies a theory of poetical prose. See also its 
prefaces and dedications. 

Painter. — The Palace of Pleasure. (1566.) The preface gives some expo- 
sition and defense of the novella. 

Sidney. — Arcadia. Burlesque of pastoral romance and romance of chivalry ; 
the author's disdain for the work. — Defense of Poetry. Much that is 
essentially applicable, though not applied, to prose fiction. 

FRENCH 

Brugis. (Belgian.) — Nonis Aprilis. (1523.) Satirical attitude toward 
romance of chivalry. See Goedeke : Grundriss zur Geschichte der 
deutschen Dichtung (1884), I., p. 340. 

ITALIAN 

See S. on Castelvetro (II., p. 84), and on Cinthio and Pigna (II., 
p. 214). 
Giraldi. — Discorsi intorno al comporre dei Romanzi. (1554.) 

SPANISH 

For the critical relations of early picaresque fiction, see Chandler and 
Warren. 

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 

ENGLISH 

Some of the tendencies suggested by the following references 
are : Indifference toward romance on the part of scholars ; gen- 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 289 

eral hostility of the idealists, especially the Puritans ; the vogue 
of the aristocratic heroic romance; the democratic sub-current; 
the debased realism of the Restoration; conscious distinction 
between romance and novel. 

Bacon. — Wisdom of the Ancients. Theory of allegory implied and stated. 
— Advancement of Learning. Dunlop quotes a famous passage, with 
" fiction " substituted for the " poetry " of some translations. (Introduc- 
tion.) — In the main, Bacon seems afraid to linger in the domain of 
romance. — See S. on his general position. 

Barclay. — Argenis. (1621.) The allegorical purpose is explained (II., 14) 
according to the current sugar-coated pill idea. 

Bunyan. — See Masson, p. 82, and cf. Defoe, below. Bunyan's influence on 
Defoe and realism in general was unintentional. 

Congreve. — Incognita. (1692.) See Raleigh, p. 101. 

Davenant. — Preface to Gondibert. (1651.) See S., II., p. 368. 

Dryden. — Much criticism on matters related to prose fiction, such as heroic 
poetry, satire, allegory, etc. A novelistic method of acquiring materials 
is recorded in the preface of Annus Mirabilis. 

Head. — The English Rogue. (1665-71.) The prefatory matter defends 
realistic method in about the same spirit shown by Defoe, Fielding, 
Smollett, etc. " Though it may seem a romance . . . there is nothing but 
the truth, naked as she ought to be," etc. Burlesque of high-flown style, 
and other points of critical interest. 

Ingelo. — Bentivolio and Urania. (1660.) Prefaces. " Examined with a judi- 
cious eye [romances] would appear to be full of the grossest indecorums of 
invention, as odious misrepresentations of Divinity, unnatural descriptions 
of Human Life, improper and profane allusions to sacred things, frequent 
and palpable contradictions, sottish stories and in short, all the absurdities 
of wild imagination." — The lovers of romance "read Fables with such 
affection, as if their . . . best interests were wrapped up in them. . . . 
How unsatisfied are they till the end of a paper combat ! What fears 
possess them for the Knight whose part they take. . . . How are they 
taken with pleasure and sorrow for the good and bad success of the 
Romantic Lovers," etc. 

Jonson. — See S., II., p. 208. 

Mackenzie. — Aretina. (1661.) See Raleigh. 

Milton. — Examine Paradise Lost, opening of Bk. IX.; and note the tendency 
of the Areopagitica, as to popular reading. 



290 APPENDIX 

FRENCH 
For criticism of prose fiction in general, see Korting and Maigron. 

Boileau. — Les Heros de Roman. See Cross, and S., II., p. 292. 

Calprendde, La. — Pharamond. The preface objects to the word " roman," 
because it confuses historical works with pure inventions like Amadis. 
(Maigron.) — " Durch ihn kommt die Romandichtung zuerst gleichsam 
vollig zum Selbstbewusstsein," etc. (Korting, I., p. 362.) He ob- 
served unity of place. (Ibid.) 

Chapelain. — Sur la Lecture des Vieux Romans. See S., II., p. 260. 

Fancan. — Le Tombeau des Romans. (1626.) See Dunlop, II., p. 344. 

Fresnaye, Vauquelin de la. — Art Poetique. (1605.) See S., II., p. 131. 

Fureti§re. — Roman Bourgeois. (1666.) See S., II., p. 554, and Raleigh, 
p. 115. 

Huet. — De 1'Origine des Romans. (1670.) See S., II., p. 275, and Dunlop, 
introduction and passim. 

Moliere. — Les Precieuses Ridicules. As a burlesque on the love motifs of 
Scudery, see Cross. 

Scarron. — Roman Comique. As a burlesque. 

Scudery, Georges de. — Preface to Ibraham. " Mais entre toutes les regies 
qu'il faut observer, celle de la vraisemblance est sans doute la plus ne- 
cessaire." (Quoted in Maigron.) — See also S., I., p. 266. 

Scudlry, Madeleine de. — See Maigron, and under " vraisemblance, ,, Glossary. 

Sorel. — Berger Extravagant. (1627.) As a burlesque — " antipastorale." 

GERMAN 
Birken. — Kurze Anweisung zur deutschen Poesie. (1679.) Considers the 

relations of romance to pastoral, history, epic, etc. 
Zesen. — One of the most popular fiction writers of the century, but does 

not mention the romance in his poetic theory. (Borinski, p. 278.) 

SPANISH 
Cervantes. — Don Quixote. See S., II., p. 347. Note, however, these pas- 
sages in the novel: I., I., 6; I., I., 21. See above, Martorell. — There is 
a bit of pastoral criticism in the preface to Galatea, and of realistic ethics 
in the preface of the Novelas Exemplares. 

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

This is the period in which the " modern novel/' in one sense, 
arose, and it is a period of special critical activity. These two 
facts are doubtless closely related. 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 291 

There is vigorous criticism of the novel in England and Ger- 
many; perhaps less notable criticism in France. Among the 
general phases of this criticism one may note : The defense of 
realism, and the rise of romantic doctrine ; specific criticism of 
the Gothic romance, and of the sentimental movement; increased 
attention to the theory and technic of prose fiction ; more careful 
effort to distinguish romance from novel ; considerable attention 
to the history of fiction, and to biographical sketches of novelists ; 
the development of book-reviewing in the periodicals ; a general 
neglect of prose fiction in the histories of literature, and in works 
of general literary criticism ; considerable hostility to fiction, with 
reference to its great popularity, and the evil effect of circulating 
libraries. 

ENGLISH 

Blair, Hugh. — Rhetoric (1783). "There remains to be treated of another 
species of composition in prose, which comprehends a very numerous, 
though, in general, a very insignificant class of writings known by the 
name of romances and novels. These may, at first view, seem too in- 
significant to deserve that any particular notice should be taken of them." 
But it is explained that the trouble is with the authors rather than with 
the nature of the species ; and Blair gives a fairly generous, though very 
brief, treatment of prose fiction. 

Defoe. — Defense of realism, and relation of fiction to fact in his prefaces; 
the doctrine of allegory in the Third Part of Robinson Crusoe, with 
reference to the Biblical parables. — See Geissler. (Halle dissertation, 
1896.) 

Fielding, Henry. — Much theoretical, technical, and ethical criticism in his 
prefaces and intercalated essays. See prefaces of Amelia, Joseph 
Andrews, David Simple, Letters of David Simple, Tom Thumb, and 
Covent Garden Tragedy ; Joseph Andrews, I., 1 and 7, II., 1, III., 1 ; 
Tom Jones, first chapters of Books V., VI., VIII., IX., X., XI., and XVI.; 
Jonathan Wild, L, 1 ; and essays on Conversation, and Knowledge of 
Men. Also note his burlesque element. — See p. 265 in this Appendix. 

Fielding, Sarah. — Theoretical, technical, and ethical criticism in the pref- 
aces of The Cry and The Countess of Dellwyn. Discussion of chorus, 
episode, characterization, relations of the novel to the drama and the 
essay, definition of "humors," and of "romantic," etc. "The motives 
to actions, and the inward turns of mind, seem, in our opinion, more 



292 APPENDIX 

necessary to be known than the actions themselves; and much rather 
would we choose that our reader should clearly understand what our 
principal actors think than what they do." — (Were these notable pref- 
aces written or inspired by Henry Fielding ?) 

Gentleman's Magazine, The. — Reviews many novels toward the end of 
the century; giving a half column to Evelina, five columns to Juliet 
Grenville, ten columns to Humphrey Clinker, etc. 

Goldsmith. — Citizen of the World. Criticism of " Bawdry and Pertness " 
(an attack on Smollett) in No. 53 ; and see also No. 33. 

Gray. — For his views of Ossian, The Castle of Otranto, etc., see Phelps. 

Hurd. — Letters on Chivalry and Romance (1762). See S., Vol. III. 

Johnson. — Definitions of romance and novel in the Dictionary ; The 
Rambler, No. 365 ; Preface to Shakespeare ; many passages in Boswell. 
See Section 166 of the present volume. 

Karnes. — Elements of Criticism (1762). An elaborate aesthetic treatise, 
hardly mentioning prose romance. 

Law. — Serious Call. (1726.) This famous ascetic work, influencing the 
Methodist movement, unconsciously supports the theory and practise of 
the realistic novelists : " If you are told only in the gross of the folly 
and madness of a life devoted to the world, it makes little or no impres- 
sion upon you ; but if you are shown how such people live every day ; if 
you see the continual folly and madness of all their particular actions 
and designs, this would be an affecting sight," etc. (Chapter XII.) 

Leland. — Longsword. (1762.) See Phelps. 

Moore, John. — View of the Commencement and Progress of Romance. Life 
of Smollett. (Both prefixed to Smollett's Works, 1797.) 

Reeve, Clara. — The Progress of Romance. (Two vols., Dublin, 1785.) 
"While many eminent writers have . . . skimmed over the surface of 
this subject, it seemed to me that none of them had sounded the depths 
of it. . . . Of metrical Romances they have treated largely, but with 
respect to those in prose, their informations have been scanty and imper- 
fect." (Preface.) While beginning with Greek romance, the considera- 
tion of 1 8th century fiction is liberal. Particular attention is given to 
the differences between the " old [medieval] Romances," " modern 
[heroic] Romances," and " the Novel." — The prefaces of The Phcenix 
(translation of Barclay's Argenis), and of The Old English Baron, are of 
considerable critical importance. — Preface of The School for Widows. 
Criticism of the reigning sentimental school; and distinction between 
true and false sensibility. 

Richardson. — Exposition of epistolary technic, and of ethical interest, in 
critical addenda to Pamela and Clarissa. 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 293 

Smollett. — Preface and Chapter I. of Ferdinand, Count Fathom ; burlesque 
of Gothic method in Sir Launcelot Greaves. — "A novel is a large dif- 
fused picture, comprehending the characters of life, disposed in different 
groups, and exhibited in various attitudes, for the purposes of an uniform 
plan, and general occurrence, to which every individual figure is sub- 
servient. But this plan cannot be executed with propriety, probability, 
or success, without a principal personage to attract the attention, unite 
the incidents, unwind the clue of the labyrinth, and at last close the 
scene, by virtue of his own importance." (Preface of F. C. F.) 

Walpole. — The Castle of Otranto. See Phelps. 

Warton, Thomas. — History of English Poetry. (1778-81.) Answers 
Ascham's attack on the Italian novelle, and devotes about eighteen 
pages to them (Section LX.) ; defends an interest in romance in general 
(Section V.). See S., III., p. 70 ff. 

See also prefaces of Brooke's Fool of Quality ; Day's Sandford and Merton ; 
Graves' Columella, and The Spiritual Quixote; Johnstone's Chrysal; and 
many other novels of the century. 

FRENCH 

For the novelistic doctrine of the Encyclopaedists in general, see Rocafort, 

Chapter IV. 

Diderot. — Eloge de Richardson. (1742.) Famous for its " superstitious ad- 
miration." In a well-known passage he places Richardson beside Moses, 
Homer, Euripides, and Sophocles, to be read by turns. — " Par un roman, on 
a entendu jusqu'a ce jour un tissu d'evenements chimeriques et fri- 
voles, dont la lecture etait dangereuse pour le gout et pour les moeurs. 
. . . le fond de son drame est vrai; ses personnages ont toute la 
realite possible; ses caracteres sont pris du milieu de la societe; ses inci- 
dents sont dans les moeurs de toutes les nations policees ; ... les 
passions qu'il peint sont telles que je les eprouve en moi ; . . . il me 
montre le cours general des choses qui nr environnent. " See S., III., 
p. 92. 

Fresnoy, Lenglet du. — L'Histoire justifiee contre les Romans. (1735.) 

Rousseau. — Preface to La Nouvelle Heloise. (1760.) On the relation of 
the novel to social degeneracy, etc. — References to fiction, especially 
his own novels, in the Confessions. 

Voltaire. — Criticism of Rousseau, Sterne, and Swift, etc. See S., II., p. 516. 



294 APPENDIX 

GERMAN 

For the criticism of the latter part of the century, see Braitmaier, Haym, 
and Riemann. 

Blankenburg. — Versuch iiber den Roman. (1766.) See Riemann, p. 4 
and passim, 

Bodmer. — " Bodmer, in dealing with prose fiction, recognizes, as few critics 
had recognized, the second greatest division of the imaginative literature 
of the world." (S., III., p. 25. See the whole of the passage.) 

Goethe. — Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, V., 7. On the relations of drama 
and novel. 

Gottsched. — Kritische Dichtkunst. (1730.) "Ihre Verfasser [of the com- 
mon novels] verstehen oft die Regeln der Poesie so wenig, als die wahre 
Sittenlehre : daher ist es kein Wunder, wenn sie einen verliebten Laby- 
rinth in den andern bauen, und eitel Thorheiten durcheinander flechten, 
ihre wolliistige Leser noch iippiger zu machen, und die Unschuldigen zu 
verfuhren. Wenn sie erbaulich seyn sollten, mussten sie nach Art eines 
Heldengedichtes abgefasset werden, wie Heliodorus, Longus, Cervantes und 
Fenelon gethan haben." (Third ed., 1742, p. 167.) — Beitrage zur 
kritischen Historie. (1732-44.) "Ein Roman muss sowohl als andere 
Schriften, nach gewissen Regeln abgemessen und eingerichtet werden. 
Sein erster Hauptzweck soil dieser sein, dass er dem Leser allezeit die 
Tugend belohnt und das Laster bestraft vorstelle. Alle diejenigen, 
welche hierwider anstossen, entfernen sich von einem Ziele, welcher der- 
gleichen Schriften allein leidlich macht. ,, — See also S., II., p. 555 ff. 

Lessing. — Some criticism of La Nouvelle Heloi'se, in Hamburgische Drama- 
turgic, Nos. 8 and 9. 

Mendelssohn, Moses. — Criticism of La Nouvelle Heloise in his Letters con- 
cerning Contemporary Literature. See also Braitmaier, II, p. 236 ff. 

Nicolai, Friedrich. — Preface to Sebaldus Nothanker. (1773.) "Alle Bege- 
benheiten sind in unserer Erzahlung so unvorbereitet, so unwunderbar, 
als sie in der weiten Welt zu geschehen pflegen. . . . Die Personen 
. . . sind ganz gemeine schlechte und gerechte Leute," etc. 

Novalis. — " Die Liebe ist das hochste Reale, der Urgrund ; alle Romane, 
wo wahre Liebe vorkommt, sind Marchen, magische Begebenheiten." — 
" Der Roman ist gleichsam die freie Geschichte, gleichsam die Mythologie 
der Geschichte." All must be " so naturlich und doch so wunderbar, 
dass man glaubt, es konne nicht anders sein, und als habe man nur 
bisher in der Welt geschlummert und gehe einem nun erst der rechte 
Sinn fur die Welt auf." See also S., III., pp. 388-9. 

Schiller. — See S., III., p. 381 ff. 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 295 

FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

In this period the novel became, in the view of many critics, and 

largely owing to Walter Scott, a "grand genre" The critical 
theory of the romantic school was inclined to accept the novel, on 
account of its freedom from traditions, its ready adaptation to the 
individual writer, and the lyrical mood. The lingering traces of 
classical criticism appear in continued disdain of romance in gen- 
eral. Specifically, criticism was at first largely occupied with 
Scott, partly with the new-old question of the relations of history 
to fiction raised by the Waverley Novels. Later, realistic reaction 
against the romantic movement appeared in theories of fiction, as 
elsewhere. — For the purposes of the general student, this is the 
period in which American and Russian criticism first became of 
significance. 

AMERICAN 

Some general tendencies may be noted in the periodicals; among which 
The Portfolio (1801-27), The North American Review (established, 1815), 
The Knickerbocker (1833-58), and The Dial (1840-44) are important. 

Fuller (Ossoli), Margaret. — Brief notes on American novelists. 

Poe. — Preface of Murders in the Rue Morgue; periodical reviews, and essay 
on The Philosophy of Composition. The last has become a classic in the 
criticism of the short story, though written with lyric poetry mainly in 
mind. Compare also, " The Poetic Principle." 

Prescott, W. H. — Biographical and Critical Miscellanies include Memoir 
of C. B. Brown, Cervantes, Sir Walter Scott, Chateaubriand's English 
Literature, and Poetry and Romance of the Italians; all of which have 
some reference to prose fiction. In the Chateaubriand, he touches at 
some length on the relation of history to fiction. 

Whipple, E. P. — Literature and Life. (1849.) A chapter on Novels and 
Novelists contains some general theory, criticism of the sentimental 
school, selection of Wilhelru Meister as " perhaps the greatest single 
novel," etc. 

ENGLISH 

Barbauld, Mrs. — Introduction to Correspondence of Richardson. (1804.) 
Outline history from Greek romance to Rousseau, etc. 



296 APPENDIX 

Bulwer Lytton — attempts serious historical or aesthetic criticism in a con- 
siderable number of prefaces, and in a few essays. 

Carlyle. — Severe criticism of the Waverley Novels in the essay on Scott — 
" not profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for edification, for building up 
or elevating in any shape," etc. He criticizes Scott's facility, but praises 
his effect on the conception of history. — Essays on German literature, 
and preface to Wilhelm Meister. 

Coleridge. — Chapter 23 of Biographia Literaria contains severe criticism 
of Clarissa and of Gothic romance. — See also Statesman's Manual, para- 
graph 12; Table-Talk, passi m ; many fragments in his lectures of 181 8; 
Sections 160 and 165 of the present work, and Tuckerman, p. 200. 

De Quincey. — " Novels are the one sole class of books that ever interest the 
public, that reach its heart, or even catch its eye. And the reason why 
novels are becoming much more licentious, and much grosser in the arts 
by which they court public favor, lies undoubtedly in the quality of that 
new reading public which the extension of education has added to the 
old one." (Quoted by F. N. Scott.) — Condemnation of Wilhelm 
Meister, in Essay on Goethe. — See S., III., p. 479. 

Dickens. — Prefaces of several novels ; mainly on the sources, process of 
composition, purpose, etc. 

Dunlop — was remarkably defective in reference to Russian and Scandi- 
navian fiction. His distribution of space is about as follows : from Greek 
romance to Boccaccio, 480 pages ; from Boccaccio to 1700, 490 pages; 
the 1 8th century, 50 pages. — See p. 266 in this Appendix. 

Hallam. — Literature of Europe. (1837.) "Fiction" is a regular heading 
in the latter part of the work. 

Hazlitt, William. — English Poets, Chapter I.; — Age of Elizabeth, Lectures 
VI. and VIII. ; — English Comic Writers, chapter on novelists ; — and 
the essay, Why the Characters of Romance are Insipid. — See also S., 
III., p. 251 ff. 

Jeffrey — reviewed a great deal of fiction during the first quarter of the 
century, in the Edinburgh Review. His technical interest may be indi- 
cated by the terms used in February, 18 1 8 (Rob Roy) : scene, underplot, 
structure, situation, action, coloring, and design. — In March, 181 7 (Tales 
of My Landlord), he gives this general approval of fiction: "If novels, 
however (generally regarded as among the lower productions of our 
literature), are not fated to last as long as epic poems, they are at least a 
great deal more popular in their season ; and slight as is their structure, 
and imperfect as their finishing may often be thought in comparison, we 
have no hesitation in saying that the better specimens of the art are 
incomparably more entertaining, and considerably more instructive." — 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 297 

In 1843, Jeffrey wrote an introductory note to collected Reviews of 
Novels, Tales and Prose Works of Fiction, in which he gives a very 
interesting " corrected impression " of the novel in general. 

Kingsley, Charles. — Preface and epilogue of Yeast ; preface of Alton Locke, 
and of his edition of The Fool of Quality. — See S., III., p. 539. 

Mangin, Edward. — Preface to Richardson's Novels. (1810.) Contrasts 
Richardson's works with the debased "circulating novel " of his own 
time. 

Newman, J. H. — Prospects of the Anglican Church. (1839.) A brief but 
significant approval of Scott, as preparing "men for some closer and 
more practical approximation to Catholic truth." . . . Contrasted with 
" the popular writers of the last century, with its novelists, and some of 
its most admired poets, as Pope, [Scott's poems and romances] stand 
almost as oracles of Truth confronting the ministers of error and sin." 

Scott. — His numerous and various prefaces contain a mine of interesting 
matter. — The essay on Amadis of Gaul is a noteworthy study of the 
romance of chivalry. — On the Supernatural in Fictitious Composition 
(a review of Hoffman). — Essay on Romance. — Lives of the Novelists. 
— The Journal (published, 1900). 

Talfourd. — The essay on British Novels and Novelists includes a general 
defense of romance. In this and in other essays, Talfourd wrote on 
Defoe, The Fool of Quality, Fielding, Goldsmith, Godwin, Mackenzie, 
Maturin, etc. 

Thackeray. — His burlesque fictions are criticisms of current types or indi- 
vidual novelists. Jerome Paturot contains " Consideration on Novels in 
General," and the Paris Sketch Book includes a " Plea for Romances in 
General." — See also the consideration of novelists in English Humor- 
ists ; Chapter I. of Henry Esmond, and the preface of Pendennis. 
See S., III., on Lockhart and Macaulay. 

FRENCH 

The general development of the criticism of the Romantic Movement is to 
be traced in Saintsbury, and in all histories of French literature. For the 
criticism of Scott, see Maigron, especially Book II., Chapter I. — On page 
158, Maigron gives a glimpse of the artificial criticism of late classicism, with 
its twenty-six conditions for perfect tragedy, twenty-three for comedy, twenty- 
four for epic. 
Balzac. — Dedications and prefaces ; especially the preface of La Peau de 

Chagrin. 
Chateaubriand. — His general relation to the Romantic School. — Essai sur 



298 APPENDIX 

la Litterature Anglaise. — Genie du Christianisme. — See American criti- 
cism, Prescott, above. 

Gautier. — See S., III., p. 339 ff. 

Girardin, Saint-Marc. — See Bibliography. 

Hugo. — See the authorities noted above. — Preface of Notre Dame de Paris. 
— " L'Histoire dit bien quelque chose de tout cela ; mais ici j'aime mieux 
croire au roman qu'a l'histoire, parce que je prefere la verite morale a la 
verite historique." (Quoted in Maigron.) 

Eulot. — Instruction sur les Romans. (1825.) — Moral argument against 
romance. 

Merimie. — See S., III., p. 348 ff. ; Dowden, French Literature, p. 410, note. 

Sainte-Beuve. — There is much criticism of novelists in the Causeries, Por- 
traits Contemporains, Portraits Litteraires, and Chateaubriand et son 
Groupe Litteraire. 

Sismondi. — Litterature du Midi de PEurope. (1813-29.) Some 35 pages 
out of 1000 are given to prose fiction, Cervantes receiving most attention. 

Stael, Mme. de. — Essai sur les Fictions. (1795.) "L'art d'ecrire des romans 
n'a point la reputation qu'il merite, parce qu'une foule de mauvais auteurs 
nous out accables de leurs fades productions en ce genre, ou la perfection 
exige le genie le plus releve, mais ou la mediocrite est a la portee de 
tout le monde. . . . Un roman tel qu'on peut le concevoir ... est une des 
plus belles productions de l'esprit humain, une des plus influentes sur la 
morale des individus, qui doit former ensuite les rnoeurs publiques. . . . On 
regarde (les romans) comme uniquement consacres a peindre l'amour, la 
plus violente, la plus universelle, la plus vraie de toutes les passions. . . . 
L'ambition, Porgueil, l'avarice, la vanite, pourraient etre l'objet principal 
de fictions dont les incidents seraient plus neufs et les situations aussi 
variees que celles qui naissent de l'amour. . . . On peut extraire des bons 
romans une morale plus pure, plus relevee, que d'aucun ouvrage didac- 
tique sur la vertu. . . . Les evenements ne doivent etre, dans les romans, 
que l'occasion de developper les passions du coeur humain. . . . Les romans 
que l'on ne cessera jamais d'admirer . . . ont pour but de reveler ou de 
tracer une foule de sentiments dont se compose, au fond de l'&me, le bon- 
heur ou le malheur de l'existence, ces sentiments qu'on ne dit pas parce 
qu'ils se trouvent lies avec nos secrets ou nos faiblesses et parce que les 
hommes passent leur vie avec les hommes, sans se confier jamais mutuelle- 
ment ce qu'ils eprouvent. . . . Observer le coeur humain, c'est montrer a 
chaque pas l'influence de la morale sur la destinee. ... II n'y a qu'un 
secret dans la vie, c'est le bien ou le mal qu'on a fait. . . . C'est ainsi que 
l'histoire de l'homme doit etre representee dans les romans, c'est ainsi 
que les fictions doivent nous expliquer, par nos vertus et nos sentiments, 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 299 

les mysteres de notre sort." — De l'Allemagne. — Preface of Delphine, 
and Quelques Reflexions sur le But Moral de Delphine. 

Stendhal. (Beyle.) — " Qu'est-ce que le roman de Walter Scott ? De la 
tragedie romantique, entremelee de longues descriptions." (Quoted in 
Maigron.) 

Vigny, de. — Reflexions sur la Verite dans PArt. (Preface of Cinq-Mars ; 
1826.) "On doit s'abandonner a une grande indifference de la realite 
historique pour juger les ceuvres dramatiques, poemes, romans ou trage- 
dies, qui empruntent a l'histoire des personnages memorables. L'Art ne 
doit jamais Stre considere que dans ses rapports avec sa beaute ideale," 
etc. 

GERMAN 

For the romantic critics, see Haym. 

Bouterwek. — Geschichte der Poesie und Beredsamkeit, etc. (Twelve vols., 
1805-19.) Vol. III., English translation, "History of Spanish Litera- 
ture." (Bohn Library.) This volume gives some attention to prose 
fiction, particularly to Cervantes. "The result [of Cervantes' initiative] 
has proved that modern taste, however readily it may in other respects 
conform to the rules of the antique, nevertheless requires in the narration 
of fictitious events, a certain union of poetry with prose, which was un- 
known to the Greeks and Romans in their best literary ages." 

Jeitteles — gives excellent articles on the Novelle and the Roman. 

Goethe. — See S., III., 363, and 366 ff. 

Richter. — Vorschule der Aesthetik. (1804.) "Der Roman verliert an 
reiner Bildung unendlich durch die Weite seiner Form, in welcher fast 
alle Formen liegen und klappen konnen. Ursprunglich ist er episch ; 
aber zuweilen erzahlt statt des Autors der Held, zuweilen alle Mitspieler. 
. . . Aber die Neuern wollen wieder vergessen, dass der Roman eben 
sowohl eine romantische dramatische Form annehmen konne und 
angenommen habe. Ich halte sogar diese scharfere Form ... fur die 
bessere, da ohnehin die Laxitat der Prosa dem Romane eine gewisse 
Strengigkeit der Form notig und heilsam macht." From a passage on 
the theory of the novel. — See also S., III., p. 384 ff. 

Schlegel, A. W. — Vorlesungen iiber schone Litteratur und Kunst. (1803- 
04.) On the different relations of prose and verse in ancient and modern 
literature. " Und so wird der Roman nicht als Beschluss und Ausartung, 
sondern als das erste in der neueren Poesie gesetzt ; eine Gattung, welche 
das Ganze derselben reprasentieren kann. . . . One who cannot under- 
stand Cervantes "hat wenig Hoffnung den Shakespeare zu begreifen." — 



300 APPENDIX 

See also his essays on Lafontaine, Schulz, "Ueber den dramatischen 
Dialog," etc. 

Schlegel, Friedrich. — Geschichte der alten und neuen Litteratur. (1815.) 
Some historical account of the novel, with some theory. His roman- 
ticism appears in the criticism of Cervantes and Richardson. In the 
later eighteenth century, " Romance . . . grew to be a favorite mode of 
composition with those whose enthusiasm for nature found no vent in 
any of the older existing forms : for it was exempt from all those fetters 
that cramped aspiring effort in other departments of poetry. . . . Ro- 
mance became in the hands of these men of genius exactly what each 
of them wished." (Translation in Bohn Library.) — Elsewhere he calls 
the novel " the highest reach and the sum of all poetry, the ideal and 
typical romantic form." See also his essays on Boccaccio, Goethe's 
works, etc.; and S., III., p. 401. 

Solger. — Vorlesungen iiber Aesthetik. (1829.) An example of the early 
treatment of the novel in German aesthetics. Definition of the novel as 
a form of epic ; relations of novel, short story, etc. The romantic con- 
ception of the free form of the novel is embodied in the quotation given 
under " lyrical " in the Glossary of this Appendix. 

Schopenhauer. — Some interesting references to the novel in his literary 
essays. See S., III., p. 566 ff. 

See S., III., on Heine and Tieck. 

RUSSIAN 

The movement from romanticism, through realism, to naturalism may be 

suggested by these three citations : — 

Karamzin, — an admirer and imitator of Sterne, defined the aim of art in 
some such words as these : "to pour forth floods of emotion on the 
realm of the sentimental." 

Gogol — speaks of his realistic method as follows: "Pushkin . . . used to say 
that no author had, as much as I, the gift of showing the reality of the 
trivialities of life, of describing the petty ways of an insignificant creature, 
of bringing out and revealing to my readers infinitesimal details which 
would otherwise pass unnoticed. In fact, there is where my talent lies. 
The reader revolts against the meanness and baseness of my heroes. . . . 
They would have forgiven me if I had described some picturesque theatrical 
knave, but they cannot forgive my vulgarity. The Russians are shocked 
to see their own insignificance." (Letter, quoted in Pardo Bazan, 
p. 201.) 

Byelinski. (181 1-48.) — " Nature is the eternal model of art, and the greatest 
and noblest subject in nature is man. ... Is not for the anatomist and 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 301 

physiologist the organism of a wild Australian as interesting as the or- 
ganism of an enlightened European ? For what reason should art, in 
this respect, differ so much from science," etc. (Quoted in Wiener, II., 
p. 206.) 

THE SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH 
CENTURY 

In this period, one notices first the greatly increased amount 
of criticism of prose fiction, and the even more significant fact 
that few of the great critics have failed to make some contribution. 
Serious consideration of the novel becomes common in works of 
general criticism, in aesthetics, and in all domains of literary history. 
German criticism has probably done most for technical study, and 
perhaps for detailed historical investigation ; French criticism has 
applied its fondness for formulas, and its clear, rapid examination 
of problems, to the field of the novel. While many critics now 
consider the novel as one of the highest forms of art, dissenting 
voices may still be heard. 

Viewed as accompanying the creative movement, criticism is at 
first mainly realistic, then naturalistic, then reactionary in the 
direction of a new idealism, or neo-romanticism. 

A few further aspects may be noted : The considerable number 
of extended works in the history of national fiction ; works on the 
art of fiction by novelists or others, intended for practical guidance 
to beginners ; the increased number of monographs of all varieties 
in this field ; fresh consideration of fiction in the light of new 
sociological, psychological, and ethical views; increased attention 
to the short story as a distinct type; work in the educational 
domain — university theses, edited masterpieces, pamphlets, and 
books for the systematic study of fiction, syllabi of lecture courses 
etc. 

AMERICAN 

Garland, Hamlin. — Crumbling Idols. The " new spirit " of American realism 
appears in vigorous fashion. There is much general reference to the 



302 APPENDIX 

novel, exposition and defense of "veritism," consideration of "local 
color," and a striking theory of " the local novel." 

Hawthorne. — Notes on his sources, method, etc. — Preface of The House of 
the Seven Gables, on the nature of romance. 

Howells. — Criticism and Fiction. — My Literary Passions. — Heroines of 
Fiction. — Magazine editorials. — In general, exposition and defense of 
the realistic position, with special interest in continental realism, including 
Russian. 

James, Henry. — Periodical articles. — Hawthorne. — French Poets and 
Novelists. — The Art of Fiction. "The analogy between the art of the 
painter and the art of the novelist, is, so far as I am able to see, complete. 
A novel being a picture . . . how can a picture be either moral or im- 
moral ? " — " The only reason for the existence of a novel is that it does 
compete with life." — "The air of reality (solidity of specification) seems 
to me the supreme virtue of a novel." Cf. Stevenson, below. See also 
under " impression," in Glossary. 

Lanier. — There is severe criticism of his English Novel in S., III., p. 643. 

Mabie, H. M. — has given some attention to fiction. 

Matthews, Brander. — Theoretical, technical, and historical criticism. 
Special exposition of the short story, as an independent type. 

See the Bibliography, under C. S. Baldwin — Barrett — Burton — Canby — 
Chandler — Cody — Cook — Crawford — Crawshaw — Cross — David- 
son — Dixson — Dye — Forsyth — Hammond — Lewis — MacClintock — 
Moulton — Nettleton — Frank Norris — Perry — Scudder — Simonds — 
L. W. Smith — Stoddard — Thompson — Tuckerman — Van der Velde 
— Warren. 

ENGLISH 

Dallas. — May be noted for a low opinion of the novel at a late date. The 

" novel is but a fictitious biography." ..." A novel may be described 

as gossip etherealized, family talk generalized." 
Dowden — has given special attention to George Eliot and to Goethe, in 

various essays and studies ; some attention to the novel in the French 

Revolution, and the History of French Literature. 
Eliot, George. — A vigorous defense of realism in the preface of Adam Bede; 

essays on Story-Telling, Lady Novelists, Silly Novels by Lady Novelists; 

and material for study of her own work in Cross's Life. 
Gosse — has made something of a specialty of the novel, discussing theory 

as well as history. — Northern Studies. — Questions at Issue. — In his 

history of Eighteenth Century English Literature he gives a good account 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 303 

of the rise of the novel. — Also note his numerous introductions to trans- 
lations of continental novels — Dutch, Scandinavian, Spanish, etc. 

Hardy, Thomas. — Prefaces of Return of the Native, Mayor of Casterbridge, 
A Pair of Blue Eyes, and Jude the Obscure. In the last, he gives this 
realistic, impressionistic statement : " Like former productions of this pen, 
Jude the Obscure is simply an endeavor to give shape and coherence to a 
series of seemings, of personal impressions, the question of their con- 
sistency or their discordance, of their permanence or their transitoriness, 
being regarded as not of the first moment.' , 

Helps. — See S. 

Meredith, George. — The prelude of The Egoist is a defense of satire in art, 
especially in fiction. Cf. the Essay on Comedy. — Chapter I of Diana of 
the Crossways touches the relation of fiction to philosophy. 

Raskin. — Characteristic reference to fiction in many passages. — Attack on 
realism in Fiction, Fair and Foul. — Consideration of Scott in Part IV., 
Chapters 16 and 17, and incidental mention of other novelists, in Modern 
Painters. — Comment on fiction in Fors, especially Letter 31 and follow- 
ing, on Scott. " Of the four great English tale-tellers whose dynasties 
have set or risen within my own memory — Miss Edgeworth, Scott, 
Dickens, and Thackeray — I find myself greatly at pause in conjecturing, 
however dimly, what essential good has been effected by them, though 
they all had the best intentions. Of the essential mischief done by them, 
there is, unhappily, no doubt whatever." Cf. Carlyle and Newman, above. 

Saintsbury — has been a wide reader of fiction, as of most forms of litera- 
ture, and has recorded many of his impressions. — French Novelists. — 
Corrected Impressions. — Volumes in the history of English literature, 
and in Periods of European Literature. — Miscellaneous essays. — Edi- 
torial introductions to the novels of Balzac, Defoe, Fielding, and others. 

Stevenson. — His criticism is partly an expression of the neo-romanticism of 
the closing decades of the century. See passages in his letters, and the 
essays, A Gossip on a Novel of Dumas', A Gossip on Romance, Victor 
Hugo's Romances, and A Humble Remonstrance. The last is directed 
in part against the Art of Fiction, by Henry James. (See above.) " The 
novel, which is a work of art, exists, not by its resemblances to life . . . 
but by its immeasurable difference from life, which is designed and sig- 
nificant, and is both the method and material of the work." 

Traill, H. D. — See S., III. 

Trollope, Anthony. — The Autobiography contains, besides much material 
on his own fiction, a chapter on Novels and the Art of Writing Them, 
and a chapter on English Novelists of the Present Day. The first of 
these opens with the statement, " It is nearly twenty years since I pro- 



304 APPENDIX 

posed to myself to write a history of English prose fiction." It is interest- 
ing to note that this time coincides with the date of Masson's work — 
the first important history of English fiction. 
See the Bibliography, under Baker — Besant — Jack — Ker — Masson — W. 
E. Norris — Raleigh — Robertson — Senior — Turner — Wilson — Wors- 
fold. 

FRENCH 

Bourget. — Criticism of French novelists in Etudes de Psychologie Contempo- 
raine, and in Etudes et Portraits. 

BrunetiSre. — Many separate studies in Etudes Critiques, Questions de Cri- 
tique, Essais sur la Litterature Contemporaine. — Victor Hugo. — 
Notable attention in the Manual of French Literature. — Le Roman 
Naturaliste is probably one of the best five or six volumes of aesthetic 
criticism in the whole field of the novel, for the average student. It was 
"largely instrumental in hastening the end of naturalism." (Kastner 
and Atkins.) Of the novel he says : " nul autre genre ne se prete plus 
complaisamment a des exigences plus di verses." " Par l'imprevu de ses 
combinaisonsinfinies, par la variete des formes qu'il peut presque indifferem- 
ment revStir, par la liberte de son allure et Puniversalite de sa langue, il 
convient particulierement a nos societes democratiques." — Of historical 
romance : " ni du roman ni de l'histoire, ou plutot qui sera de l'histoire 
si vous y cherchez le roman, mais qui redeviendra du roman si vous y 
cherchez de l'histoire." 

Lemaitre. — Impressions de Theatre. Contains notices of dramatizations of 
Pere Goriot, Crime and Punishment, and Germinie Lacerteux. 

MontSgut. — Dramatiques et Romanciers. — Ecrivains Modernes de l'Angle- 
terre is largely upon novelists. — See also S. 

Pelissier. — The following may be quoted as a representative recent view of 
the novel by an historian of general literary movements : " Tenu par les 
anciens et meme par notre dge classique pour un divertissement frivole, 
le roman avait echappe ainsi aux definitions et aux regies d'une critique 
que ne daignait pas s'en occuper. II n'y a guere plus de cinquante ans, 
Villemain osait a peine le faire entrer dans l'histoire litteraire, et ne l'admet- 
tait du moins qu'en langue grecque. La nature meme du genre se pr§tait 
d'ailleurs a tous les sujets et a tous les tons ; aussi, favorise par les con- 
ditions sociales, devait-il en notre temps prendre les formes les plus 
diverses et refleter les multiples aspects de l'&me moderne. Et, s'il n'est 
au XIX e siecle aucun sentiment, aucune idee, qui n'y trouve son expres- 
sion, il n'est aucune ecole de quelque importance qui n'ait tente d'en 
renouveler la formule d'apres ses vues particulieres, aucune conception 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 305 

de Part a laquelle il ne se soit accommode. II avait ete d'abord une 
effusion de sensibilite personnelle. II s'appliqua ensuite a. faire revivre 
les siecles passes dans leurs personnages, leurs moeurs et leurs costumes. 
Quittant l'histoire pour la societe contemporaine, il se divisa enfin, 
sans sortir de ce cadre mSme, en deux genres bien distincts et repondant 
a deux tendances irreductibles de l'esprit : les uns, regardant la vie 
reelle a travers leur imagination eprise de beaute, de vertu, de bonheur, 
en rendirent un tableau toujours idealise dans sa verite mSme ; les autres, 
armes d'une analyse sagace et penetrante, s'etudierent a la voir telle 
qu'elle est et a la representer telle qu'ils l'avaient vue." (Fourth edition, 
Paris, 1895, p. 232.) 

Paris, Gaston. — Important for medieval fiction. 

Sand, George. — Prefaces to several novels. 

Scherer, Edmond. — One of the chief critics of George Eliot in France. Cf. 
Le Roman Naturaliste : Le Naturalisme Anglais, Etude sur George Eliot. 
See pp. 205 and 206 of the present volume. 

Taine. — "He undoubtedly gave considerable impetus to the Naturalistic 
movement, but it is entirely unfair to make him responsible for its 
exaggerations and excesses." (Kastner and Atkins.) Cf. Lanson, 
p. 1060. 

V6ron. — " It has been the fashion for the last fifty years to abuse novels 
on every opportunity. Would-be serious criticism looks down upon them 
as beneath its notice," etc. Against such a view Veron affirms the 
" poetic character " of the novel. 

Vogiie, de. — " The Neo-Christian movement [is due] in great measure to his 
critical studies on the great Russian novelists." (Kastner and Atkins.) 

Zola. — Brunetiere's Roman Naturaliste is in part an answer to his theories 
as well as practise. See S., and many monographs and essays. 

See S. on Amiel, Barbey d'Aurevilly, Baudelaire, Doudan, Flaubert, 
Gautier, the Goncourt brothers, Planche, Texte, etc. 
See Bibliography, under Albert — Chassang — Doumic — Gilbert — Guyau — 
Jusserand — Lanson — Le Breton — Le Goffic — Maigron — Morillot — 
Rocafort — Texte. 

GERMAN 

Baumgart. — "Der Prosaroman ist viel zu fest an die Detaildarstellung 
gebunden, als dass er jemals sich ganz zu der Hohe des Epos erheben 
konnte, wo — das Kennzeichen aller echten Poesie — die Darstellung 
des Besondern in lebendigster Gegenwartigkeit zugleich mit der 
Wirklichkeit wetteifert und doch uberall das Allgemeine in sich 
schliesst." (p. 315.) 



306 APPENDIX 

Beyer, C. — Deutsche Poetik. About fifty pages are given to the novel — 
a good example of its treatment in later German poetics. " Der Roman 
ist das Prosaepos der Gegenwart . ♦ . jene umfangreiche Prosa-Erzahlung, 
welche Entwickelungsgang und Geschick eines Helden vom ersten Ahnen 
oder Beginnen seines Strebens bis zu einem gewissen Abschluss einer 
Reihe von Begebenheiten (bis zur Erreichung eines Zieles oder bis zur 
Sichtbarwerdung der poetischen Gerechtigkeit, d. i. der Vollendung der 
poetischen Idee) in abgerundeter Form und poetischer, das wirkliche 
Leben und den jeweiligen Charakter der Zeit wiederspiegelnder Weise 
darstellt. Mit andern Worten : der Roman bietet die poetische Ge- 
staltung eines individuellen, einheitlich bestimmten bedeutenden Lebens 
in der Form geschichtlicher Erscheinung ; die Spiegelung dieses Lebens 
mit seinen sittlichen Hohen und Tiefen ; das Bild dieses durch Erfah- 
rung gereiften, durch Gefahren erprobten, zuletzt zu einem sichern Stand- 
punkt gelangten Lebens, wie es beispielsweise bei der homerischen 
Erzahlung der Irrfahrten des Odysseus entgegentritt." (Third edition, 
Berlin, 1900, II., p. 347.) 

Borinski. — Interesting as an example of the study of the theory of the novel 
in the general history of criticism. 

Brandes — discusses a number of novelists in Moderne Geister and Menschen 
und Werke, as well as in Hauptstromungen. In the last work he treats 
the "historical and ethnographical naturalism" of Scott at some 
length. 

Carridre. — Aesthetik. (1885.) "Die Poesie hat sich ins Geimith gefluchtet, 
die Entwickelung der Individuality in einer vielfach widersprechenden 
prosaischen Welt verlangt nun ihre kunstlerische Wiedergeburt, und 
diese ist der Roman." 

Freytag. — The analysis of plot in the Technik des Romans has been applied 
to the novel by various critics. — Some theory and technic in the essay 
on Wilibald Alexis. — Preface to Soil und Haben. " Dem Schonen in 
edelster Form den hochsten Ausdruck zu geben, ist nicht jeder Zeit ver- 
gonnt, aber in jeder soil der erfindende Schriftsteller wahr sein gegen 
seine Kunst und gegen sein Volk. . . . Glucklich werde ich sein, wenn 
. . . dieser Roman den Eindruck macht, dass er wahr nach den Gesetzen 
des Lebens und der Dichtkunst erfunden und doch niemals zufalligen 
Ereignissen der Wirklichkeit nachgeschrieben ist." 

Ludwig. — The novel "verlangt erstens Ruhe, Abweisen jeder Art Ungeduld, 
zweitens je grosser, d., h., langer, reicher er ist, desto mehr eine gewisse 
Ausserlichkeit. . . . Eine Hauptkunst des Romanschreibers ist ferner das 
Arrangement, das Verschweigen von Dingen, die man gern wissen 
mochte, das Zeigen von Personen und Dingen, deren Verhaltniss zum 



HISTORY OF NOVELISTIC CRITICISM 307 

Ganzen noch unbekannt, das Abbrechen, das Verschlingen, das Ver- 
bergen des Innern hinter dem Aussern, der Absichten der Personen." 

Meyer. — Konversations-Lexikon. " Das eigentlich Charakteristische des Ro- 
mans im heutigen Sinne dieses fortes, besteht darin, dass der Roman in 
hoherm Grade und in umfassenderer Weise als jede andre, auch jede andre 
epische Dichtungsart, auf die analysierende Darstellung des vielver- 
schlungenen Getriebes des seelischen Lebens und seiner innern Geschichte 
gerichtet ist, oder mit einem Worte : in seinem eminent psychologischen 
Charakter. Steht dem Drama besonders nahe." (Fifth edition, 1896.) 

Nietzsche. — See S., III. 

Nordau, Max. — Cf. the treatment of Tolstoi and Zola as degenerates, with 
Robiati and Merejkowski. — Chapters in Paradoxes, on The Import of 
Fiction, etc. 

Riemann. — One of the most suggestive volumes of recent criticism in the 
field of the novel. See p. 267 of this Appendix. 

Scherer, W. — Kleine Schriften, II. Includes essays on George Eliot, Auer- 
bach, etc., and on technic of the modern short story. See Bibliography. 

Spielhagen. — In addition to volumes given in the Bibliography, there are 
chapters in Aus Meiner Studienmappe on Auerbach, Bjornson, and Feuil- 
let. This contribution to the much-discussed relation of drama to novel 
may be quoted : "Der Roman ist in jeder Beziehung des Stories, der 
Oekonomie, der Mittel, ja selbst, subjectiv, in Hinsicht der Qualitat der 
poetischen Phantasie und dichterischen Begabung, der voile Gegensatz 
des Dramas." 

Schmidt, Erich. — Richardson, Rousseau und Goethe. — Charakteristiken 
also contains much on novelists. 

See the Bibliography, under Bobertag — Bolsche — Braitmaier — Cholevius — 
Eichendorff — Gottschall — Heyse — Koberstein — Korting — Kreyssig 
— Mielke — Rehorn — Rohde — Volkelt. 

ITALIAN 

d' Annunzio. — The preface of II Trionfo della Morte is interesting as show- 
ing the Italian traditions of language, and the fine sense of art. 

Robiati. — His critical theory is distinct if not original : " Per me la critica 
ha V ufficio di studiare il movimento del pensiero di un popolo . . . 
studiare V opera d' arte non in se, ma come segno di una data epoca, di 
un determinato periodo storico." For each of the principal novelists 
studied he has a formula : "In Verga ho studiato lo sviluppo del ro- 
manzo naturalista da noi ; in Rovetta una nuova forma di pessimismo ; 
in Fogazzaro V influenza germanica presso di noi ; in Ottone di Banzole 



308 APPENDIX 

P arte di decadenza." He defines the naturalistic novel as one " che 
cerca le leggi matematiche con cui un individuo od un gruppo sociale 
agisce o deve agire in date circonstanze, in determinati ambienti." See 
also p. 189 of the present volume. 
Verga. — The novel is "la piu completa e la piu. umana delle opere d' arte." 
See also Section 129. 

RUSSIAN 

Gorki — gives a severe criticism of realism, with some reference to his own 

work, in Poet-Lore, summer, 1904. 
Merejkowski. — The volume given in the Bibliography is one of the ablest 

and most stimulating criticisms of Dostoyevsky, Pushkin, and Tolstoi, 

accessible in English. In a sense it is a review of the major tendencies 

of Russian fiction throughout the century. 
Tolstoi. — What is Art, while not directly on the novel, is of large interest 

to the student of that form of art. — Preface to edition of Maupassant. 

SPANISH 

Pardo Bazan, Emilia. — Fiction is considered in the volume on Russian 
literature and life. The influence of Russian naturalism on French 
and Spanish fiction, etc. — Discussion of realism and naturalism in 
several other critical works. 

ValdSs. — Los Novelistas Espafioles. Brief chapters on Alarcon, Gald6s, 
Valera, etc. 

Valera. — Royal Academy addresses on Amadis of Gaul, Don Quixote and 
methods of judging it. — Preface to later editions of Pepita Jimenez. — 
Nuevo Arte de Escribir Novelas. . 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 

The following list includes : — 

I. Some works mentioned elsewhere in this volume without sufficient 

bibliographical clearness. 
II. A few important references in the fields of, 

1. The theory and technic of fiction, including the short story, as 

that is usually discussed in comparison with the novel ; 

2. The study or methodical criticism of fiction ; 

3. The history of European fiction, in large areas, and when it is the 

principal subject of a work ; 

4. The history of theory. 

III. A few other works of such nature as to be of special value in connec- 
tion with the above interests. 

Suggestion for much more extensive reading is given in the Notes on the 
History of Novelistic Criticism. In the present list, a f indicates that the 
author (not always the individual work) is mentioned in those Notes. A * 
has been placed before those works which are entirely or mainly concerned 
with fiction. 

Albert, Paul: La Prose. Paris, 1887. 
About 20 pages on the novel. 

* Baker, E. A. : A Descriptive Guide to the Best Fiction. London, 1903. 

Limited to English originals and translations. 
Baldwin, J. M. (editor) : Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology. Three 
vols.,N.Y., 1901-03. 

Defines or discusses many aesthetic, ethical, psychological, and socio- 
logical terms found in the criticism of fiction. 

(References elsewhere are to this work.) 

* Baldwin, C. S. : American Short Stories. N.Y., 1904. 

Selections ; with introductory essay on the short story. 

* Barrett, C. R. : Short Story Writing. N.Y., 1900. 

Theory ; technic ; classification, etc. 
t Baumgart, H. : Handbuch der Poetik. Stuttgart, 1887. 

309 



310 APPENDIX 

*Besant, Walter: The Art of Fiction. London, 1884. 

A brief work on the theory, " laws," and technic of the novel as a 
form of art ; from a novelist's point of view. 
Betz, L. P.: La Litterature Comparee. Essai Bibliographique. 2d ed., 
Strassburg, 1904. 

Lists many studies in the international relations of fiction, 
t Beyer, C. : Deutsche Poetik. 3d ed., three vols., Berlin, 1900. 

* Bobertag, F. : Geschichte des Romans und der ihm verwandten Dichtungs- 

gattungen in Deutschland. Two vols., Berlin, 1877-84. 
Bolsche, W. : Die naturwissenschaftlichen Grundlagen der Poesie. Pro- 
legomena einer realistischen Aesthetik. Leipzig, 1887. 
Consideration of Zola is included. 
IBorinski, K. : Die Poetik der Renaissance. Berlin, 1886. 

About 30 pages on the novel. 
Braitmaier, F. : Geschichte der poetischen Theorie und Kritik von den 
Diskursen der Maler bis auf Lessing. Two vols., Frauenfeld, 1888-89. 
A little discussion of the novel. 
fBRANDES, Georg: Die Hauptstromungen der Litteratur des I9ten Jahr- 
hunderts. 5th ed., six vols., Berlin, 1897. Translated from the Danish. 
English translation, N.Y. and London, six vols., 1901-05. 
Bray, J. W. : History of English Critical Terms. Boston, 1898. 

Valuable within its field ; but " critical " is understood as judicial, and 
there is no consideration of strictly technical terms, 
t* Brunetiere, F.: Le Roman Naturaliste. New ed., 1893. 

Broad aesthetic and ethical criticism of realism, naturalism, impres- 
sionism, the experimental novel, etc. Illustration chiefly from French 
fiction, with an essay on "Le Naturalisme Anglais: Etude sur George 
Eliot." 

(References elsewhere are to this work.) 
Brunetiere, F. : U Evolution des Genres. 1890. 

* Burton, Richard : Forces in Fiction. Boston, 1902. 
Burton, Richard : Literary Likings. Boston, 1898. (1903.) 

Besides criticisms of individual novelists, includes four essays on gen- 
eral M Phases of Fiction." 
*Canby, H. S.: The Short Story. N.Y., 1902. 

A pamphlet ; mainly theoretical. Revised as the Introduction to 
Jessup and Canby's Book of the Short Story. N.Y. and London, 1903. 

* Chandler, F. W. : Romances of Roguery. Vol. I., N.Y., 1899. 

Mainly historical research in the Spanish field. 

* Chassang, M. A. : Histoire du Roman et de ses Rapports avec PHistoire. 

1862. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 31 1 

♦Cholevius, L. : Die bedeutendsten deutschen Romane des I7ten Jahr- 
hunderts. Leipzig, 1866. 

* [Cody, Sherman] : How to Write Fiction. Especially the Art of Short 

Story Writing. London, 1895. 
A defense and exposition of technical method. 

* Cook, May -©; :' Methods of Teaching Novels. Chicago, n. d. 

A pamphlet for secondary schools. 

* Crawford, F. M. : The Novel : What It is. N.Y., 1903. 
Crawshaw, W. H. : The Interpretation of Literature. N.Y., 1896. 

Pedagogical ; special outlines for the study of the main types of litera- 
ture. See p. 267 of this Appendix. 

* Cross, W. L. : The Development of the English Novel. N.Y., 1899. 

A standard work, covering the entire history of the English novel, 
conceived as an evolution d^un genre* Cf. Stoddard. Much material 
on the form of the novel, 
t Dallas, E. S. : The Gay Science. [Criticism.] Two vols., London, 1866. 
A chapter on the novel. 

* Davidson, Harriet A. : The Study of Ivanhoe; — Romola; — Silas Marner, 

etc. Albany, and in some cases, N.Y. 
Suggestive analytical pamphlets. 
♦Davidson, Harriet A.: The Creative Art of Fiction. (Pamphlet.) 

Albany. 
♦Dixson, ZellA A.: Subject-Index to Universal Prose Fiction. N.Y., 
1897. 

* Doumic, Rene : Contemporary French Novelists. N.Y., 1899. Translated 

from the French. 
t*DuNLOP, J. C. : History of Prose Fiction. London, 1814. Revised ed., 
with important additions, two vols., London, 1888. 
See p. 266 in this Appendix. 

* Dye, Charity: The Story-Teller's Art. Boston, 1898. 

A brief analytical treatise for secondary schools. 
* Eichendorff, J. von: Der deutsche Roman des i8ten Jahrhunderts in 

seinem Verhaltnis zum Christentum. Leipzig, 1857. 
Fitzmaurice-Kelly, J : History of Spanish Literature. N.Y., 1898. 

* Forsyth, Wm. : Novels and Novelists of the 18th Century. In Illustration 

of the Manners and Morals of the Age. N.Y., 1871. 
f Freytag, Gustav : Die Technik des Dramas. 1863. 8th ed., Leipzig, 

1898. English translation, Chicago, 1895. 
Gardiner, J. H. : Forms of Prose Literature. N. Y., 1900. 
t Garland, Hamlin : Crumbling Idols. Chicago, 1894. 
Garnett, Richard : History of Italian Literature. N.Y., 1898. 



312 APPENDIX 

Gayley, C. M., and F. N. Scott: Introduction to Methods and Materials 

of Literary Criticism. Vol. L, Boston, 1899. 
Giddings, F. H. : Inductive Sociology. N.Y., 1901. 

* Gilbert, Eugene : Le Roman en France pendant le XIX e Siecle. 2d ed., 

1896. 

Girardin, Saint-Marc : Cours de Litterature Dramatique. Five vols., 1843 sq. 

Includes considerable direct reference to the novel — pastoral romance, 

heroic romance, etc. The treatment of the psychology of the drama, in 

reference to love, jealousy, suicide, etc., is applicable in part to the novel. 

Gottschall, R. von : Poetik. 5th ed., Breslau, 1882. 

About 30 pages on the novel and short story ; classification of fiction. 
GUYAU, M. : L'Art au Point de Vue Sociologique. 1889. 
Quite extended treatment of the novel. 

* Hammond, Eleanor P. : Class Questions for Analysis of Narrative Fiction. 

University of Chicago, 1899. 

A pamphlet of technical analysis. 
Haym, R. : Die Romantische Schule. Berlin, 1870; reprint, 1902. 
Excellent on the theory of the novel held by the romanticists. 
Hennequin, Emile : La Critique Scientifique. 1890. 

See p. 266 in this Appendix. 
Heydrick, B. A. : How to Study Literature. 3d ed., N.Y., 1903. 

For secondary schools ; brief but sound analysis for the separate types 
of literature. 

* Heyse, Paul, and H. Kurz (editors) : Deutscher Novellenschatz. 

Introduction, on theory of short story. 

* Hitchcock, A. M. : How to Study Fiction. Boston and Chicago, 1899. 

A brief pamphlet for secondary schools, 
t* Howells, W. D. : Criticism and Fiction. N.Y., 1895. 

* Howells, W. D. : Heroines of Fiction. Two vols., N.Y. and London, 1901. 
♦Jack, A. A. : Essays on the Novel as Illustrated by Scott and Miss Austen. 

London, 1897. 
t* James, Henry : Art of Fiction. Boston, 1885. 
Theory of the novel, from a realistic position. 

* James, Henry : French Poets and Novelists. N.Y., 1878. (1884 ; 1893.) 
James, William : Principles of Psychology. Two vols., N.Y., 1890. 

t Jeitteles, Ig. : Aesthetisches Lexikon. Two vols., Vienna, 1835-37. 

* Jusserand, J. J. : Le Roman Anglais. Origine et Formation des Grandes 

Ecoles de Romanciers du XVIH e Siecle. 1886. 

* Jusserand, J. J. : The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare. N.Y. 

and London, 1890. Translated from the French. Entertaining as well 
as scholarly. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 313 

Kastner, L. E. and H. G. Atkins : Short History of French Literature. 

N.Y., 1 90 1. 
Ker, W. P. : Epic and Romance. London, 1897. 

A scholarly consideration of the medieval transition from epic to ro- 
mance, in the main viewed as a degeneration, with close analysis of both 
types. 
Koberstein, A. : Grundriss der Geschichte der deutschen Nationallitteratur. 
5th ed., 5 vols, Leipzig, 1872-73. 

About 100 pages on the novel ; including theory of prose narration, 
and particularly the 18th century theory of the novel, in Germany. 

* Korting, C. : Geschichte des franzosischen Romans im I7ten Jahrhundert. 

Leipzig, 1885-87. 

* Kreyssig, Fr. : Vorlesungen iiber den deutschen Roman der Gegenwart. 

Berlin, 1871. (1891.) 

t* Lanier, Sidney : The English Novel and the Principles of its Develop- 
ment. N.Y., 1883. 

Lanson, Gustave : Histoire de la Litterature Francaise. Ed. of 190 1. 
Detailed critical discussion of types as well as individual novelists. 

* Le Breton, A. : Le Roman au XVII e Siecle. 1890. (1898.) 

* Le Goffic, Charles : Les Romanciers d'Aujourd'hui. 1890. 
Leveque, C. : La Science du Beau. 1872. 

* Lewis, E. H. : Types of American Fiction. (Syllabus of lecture course.) 

University of Chicago, 1896. 

Presents a method of analysis, applied to individual works. 
Lotze, H. : Outlines of ^Esthetics. Translated and edited by G. T. Ladd. 

Boston, 1886. 
f*LuD\viG, Otto (1813-65) : Romanstudien (one vol. in Schriften, six vols.). 
Leipzig, 1 89 1. 

Important for theory, technic, and classification. 

* MacClintock, W. D. : Studies in Fiction. (Syllabus of lecture course.) 

University of Chicago, 1897. 

Suggestive and detailed ; quite technical analysis. 

* Maigron, L. : Le Roman Historique a l'Epoque Romantique. Essai sur 

l'lnfluence de Walter Scott. 1898. 
♦Masson, David: British Novelists and Their Styles. London, 1856. 

(Boston, 1892.) 
Historical review from Morte d' Arthur to date of writing. Some 

theory and technic. See p. 266 in this Appendix, 
t* Matthews, Brander : Philosophy of the Short Story. N.Y., 1888. 

(1901.) 

* Matthews, Brander : Aspects of Fiction. N.Y., 1896. 



314 APPENDIX 

* Matthews, BrAnder : The Historical Novel and Other Essays. N.Y., 

1901. 
Several essays on fiction; one on "The Study of Fiction." 
f Merejkowski, D. : Tolstoi as Man and Artist. With an Essay on Dos- 
tolevski. English translation, N.Y. and London, 1902. 

* Mielke, H. : Der deutsche Roman des I9ten Jahrhunderts. 4th ed., 

1900. 
" The best work on the [German] fiction of the century." 
f* Montegut, E. : Dramaturges et Romanciers. 1878. (1890.) 
Montegut, E. : Ecrivains Modernes de l'Angleterre. Three vols., 1892. 

* Morillot, Paul : Le Roman en France depuis 1610 jusqu'a nos Jours. 

1893. 

* Morillot, Paul: Scarron et le Genre Burlesque. 1888. 

Morley, Henry : Character Writings of the Seventeenth Century. London 
and N.Y., 1891. 

Only English works are included. 
Moulton, C. W. (editor) : The Library of Literary Criticism of English and 
American Authors. Eight vols., Buffalo, N.Y., 1901-04. 

Includes systematically arranged criticisms of novels and novelists. 

* Moulton, R. G. : Stories as a Mode of Thinking. (Syllabus.) University 

of Chicago. 
♦Moulton, R. G. : Four Years of Novel Reading. Boston, 1895. 

A record of literary club work. Introduction on the study of fiction. 
Moulton, R. G. : Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist. N.Y., 1885. (1901.) 
A defense and program for systematic analytical criticism. Much that 
is applicable, mutatis mutandis, to the novel. 
(References elsewhere are to this volume.) 
Nettleton, G. H. : Specimens of the Short Story. N.Y., 1901. 
Nichol John : American Literature. 2d ed., Edinburgh, 1885. 
fNoRDAU, Max: Degeneration. Translated from the German. N.Y., 1895. 
Nordau, Max : Paradoxes. (1885.) Translated from the German. Chi- 
cago, 1895. 

* Norris, Frank : The Responsibilities of the Novelist and Other Literary 

Essays. N.Y., 1903. 

Realistic, democratic, and American position ; defends technical study, 
and includes a chapter on " The Mechanics of Fiction." 

* Norris, W. E., and others : On the Art of Writing Fiction. London, 1894. 

Rather light essays on special types and elements of fiction, by novelists, 
largely by way of advice to beginners. 
Pardo BazAn, Emilia: Russia; its People and its Literature. Translated 
from the Spanish. Chicago, 1890. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 315 

t Pellissier, Georges : The Literary Movement in France during the Nine- 
teenth Century. Translated from the French. N.Y., 1897. 
♦Perry, Bliss : A Study of Prose Fiction. Boston, 1902. 

The first important work in English on the theory, technic, and general 
study of fiction, as distinct from historical works. 
Phelps, Wm. L. : The Beginnings of the English Romantic Movement. 

Boston, 1893. 
♦Raleigh, Walter : The English Novel. N.Y., 1894. 
An historical review from Chaucer to Waverley. 

♦ Rehorn, K. : Der deutsche Roman : Geschichtliche Ruckblicke und kri- 

tische Streiflichter. Cologne, 1890. 
t # Riemann, R. : Goethes Romantechnik. Leipzig, 1902. 
Robertson, J. M. : Essays towards a Critical Method. Two vols. — "Es- 
says," 1889 ; "New Essays," 1897; London. 

On critical method in general, and its application to individual writers, 
including Poe and W. D. Howells. 
t* Robiati, G. : II Romanzo Contemporaneo in Italia, Milan, 1892. (Written 
in 1888.) 

in pages. ./Esthetic, sociological, and psychological discussion of 
schools and individual novelists. 
Rocafort, J. : Les Doctrines Litteraires de l'Encyclopedie. 1890. 
Five or six pages on the theory of the novel. 

♦ Rohde, E. : Der griechische Roman und seine Vorlaufer. Leipzig, 1876. 
t # Saintsbury, George : Essays on French Novelists. London, 1891. 
Saintsbury, George : The Flourishing of Romance and the Rise of Allegory. 

N.Y., 1896. 
Saintsbury, George : A History of Criticism and Literary Taste in Europe. 

Three vols., N.Y., Edinburgh, and London, 1900-1904. 

Invaluable as a general background for the historical student of the 

novel and its theory, 
t Scherer, Edmond : Etudes sur la Litterature Contemporaine. Nine vols., 

1 863-1 889. A selection translated by Saintsbury, "Essays on English 

Literature," London, 1 89 1, includes three studies of George Eliot, 
t* Scherer, W. : Die Anfange des deutschen Prosaromans. Strassburg, 1877. 
t Schmidt, Erich : Richardson, Rousseau und Goethe. 1875. 
Scudder, Vida D. : Social Ideals in English Letters. Boston and N.Y., 1898. 
For the novel, the development of the subject is traced in More, Swift, 

Dickens, Thackeray, and George Eliot. 

♦ Senior, N. W. : Essays on Fiction. London, 1864. 

Still valuable for its theoretical and technical, as well as historical 
matter. 



3l6 APPENDIX 

* Simonds, W. E. : Introduction to the Study of English Fiction. Boston, 

1894. Mainly a selection of texts, but with some critical and historical 
matter. 

* Simonds, W. E. : School edition of Ivanhoe. Chicago, 1900. (References 

elsewhere are to this volume.) 

* Smith, L. W. : The Writing of the Short Story. Boston, 1904. 

t* Spielhagen, Fr. : Beitrage zur Theorie und Technik des Romans. Leip- 
zig, 1883. 

One of the most important works on its subject. 
Spielhagen, Fr. : Neue Beitrage zur Theorie und Technik der Epik und 
Dramatik. Leipzig, 1898. 
Some discussion of the novel. 

* Stoddard, R. H. : The Evolution of the English Novel. N.Y., 1900. 

A standard work, but not as extensive in historical scope as Cross. 
Symonds, J. A.: Essays Speculative and Suggestive. Two vols., London, 

1890. 
Taylor, H. S. : The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages. N.Y., 1901. 
Texte, J. : J.- J. Rousseau et les Origines du Cosmopolitanisme Litteraire. 

1895. English translation, N.Y., 1895. 

Distinctly conceived in the spirit of comparative literature. Liberal 
discussion of the eighteenth-century English novelists. 

* Thompson, D. G. : The Philosophy of Fiction in Literature. London and 

N.Y., 1890. 

Important discussion of the aesthetic, ethical, psychological, and social 
aspects of fiction ; chapters on " The Construction," and " The Criticism," 
of a Work of Fiction, 
t Traill, H. D. : The New Fiction and Other Essays. 1897. 

Includes discussion of the political novel, the novel of manners, and 
the " novel of humours." 
*Tuckerman, B. : A History of English Prose Fiction. N.Y., 1882(1899). 

* Turner, C. E. : Modern Novelists of Russia. London, 1890. 

Excellent for the period covered. 
Turner, C. E. : Studies in Russian Literature. London, 1882. 

(The references of the present volume are to this work.) 
t* Valdes, A. Palacio : Los Novelistas Espafioles. Madrid, 1884. 

* Van der Velde : French Fiction of To-Day. Two vols., N.Y., 1891. 
•(•Veron, Eugene: ^Esthetics. Translated from the French. London and 

Philadelphia, 1879. 
Vischer, F. T. : Aesthetik. Three vols., 1846. 
t* Vogue, E. M. de : Le Roman Russe. Paris, 1886. English translation, 

Boston, 1887. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 317 

Volkelt, J. : Aesthetik des Tragischen. Munich, 1897. 

Illustrations are in part from fiction — Tolstoi, Zola, etc. 
Waliszewski, K. : La Litterature Russe. Paris, 1900. English translation, 
N.Y., 1890. 

Much historical and critical matter on the nineteenth-century novelists. 

* Warren, F. M. : A History of the Novel previous to the Seventeenth Cen- 

tury. N.Y., 1895. 

A standard work for the history and characteristics of Greek romance, 
pastoral romance, romance of chivalry, etc. 

* Wells, B. W. : A Century of French Fiction. N.Y., 1898. 

A study of the development of the novel as a form of art in the nine- 
teenth century. 
Wiener, Leo : Anthology of Russian Literature. Two vols., N.Y., 1902-03, 
Indispensable to the average American student of Russian fiction. 

* Wilson, S. L. : The Theology of Modern Literature. Edinburgh, 1899. 

Largely with reference to the English novel. Chapters on the theology 
of George Macdonald; George Eliot; Mrs. Humphry Ward; Hardy; 
George Meredith, and the " Scottish School of Fiction." 
Worsfold, Basil : The Principles of Criticism. London, 1897. 

One chapter on " The Novel as a Form of Literature." 
t * Zola, Emile : Le Roman Experimental. 1880. English translation, 
N.Y. ; 1893. 

* Zola, Emile: Les Romanciers Naturalistes. 1881. 

* Zueblin, C. : Social Reform in Fiction. (Syllabus.) University of Chicago, 

1897. 

By a professor of sociology. Studies of Hard Times, Alton Locke, All 
Sorts and Conditions of Men, Marcella, and David Grieve, 



NOV 9 1905 



